Speed

A very bad thing happened to us this week.  Ian got a speeding ticket.  GASP!  I know that it was his fault because yes, he was speeding, but the whole thing was stupid…….

Monday afternoon could NOT have been a worse time.  Ian was running late for work, we had a fight about something meaningless, and we were giving each other the silent treatment on the way down to Kirishima.  We were in the long tunnel that borders the Kumamoto/Miyazaki Prefecture line when Ian suddenly got out of the passing lane and into the slow lane.  I asked him what he was doing, but I immediately saw the flashing lights and knew.  I silently prayed that it was just an ambulance, but I think deep down I knew it wasn’t. 

I’m sure we’ve all had this particular feeling before:  you see the flashing lights, feel your heart slip into your stomach as you instinctively tap the brakes, and pretend like nothing is wrong as you cross your fingers and pray to the good Lord above that Mr. Policeman is after someone else.

Alas, Mr. Policeman did NOT go after someone else.  Instead of pulling behind us with flashing lights like what would happen at home, they pulled in front of us.  Ian and I both looked at each other and said, “Is that for us?”  I asked him how fast he was going, but he said he honestly didn’t know.  Ian tends to have a heavy foot, and it’s extremely easy to speed in a tunnel because they are long, flat, straight, and don’t have any scenery to stare at.  I shuddered as I wondered how fast he was going.  120?  130?  140?  A sign flashed on in the police car’s back window, but the kanji was far too complicated for either of us to read.  Since we were in the tunnel, there was no room to pull over, so we continued to follow the police car.  Other cars were passing by, and if we had any inkling of a doubt that the flashing lights were for us, I think they were crushed by those passing cars.

Once we were out of the tunnel, the police car pulled over.  We tried to play dumb and slide by them, but Policeman #1 rolled down his window and waved for us to pull over behind them.  Policeman #2 jumped out of the car and walked behind our car to place a flashing orange cone to alert other drivers to get into the other lane.  Then he came to my (the passenger’s window).  I think he was taken aback that we were both foreigners.  He started his speech in Japanese but QUICKLY realized that we weren’t comprehending.  We knew that he wanted Ian’s driver’s license, so we handed him that, and he seemed glad that it was a Japanese license (that he could read). 

Next, he instructed both of us to get out of the car.  We had to sit in the back seat of the police car while Policeman #1 and #2 processed the ticket.  I’m not a bad citizen and have no need to fear the law, but as I sat in the back seat of the police car, I started breaking down emotionally.  My hands were shaking, and I could feel the tears coming on.  They asked us simple questions: where we were from, where we lived, ages, jobs, etc.  They then explained to us that the speed limit in Japan is 80 kph, and they clocked Ian going 108.  They even had a little printer connected to their speed-gun-thing which printed out the exact speed that they clocked Ian at.  108. 

Let’s take a time out for just a moment.  The HIGHEST speed limit in Japan is 80 kph on limited access roads, i.e., the expressway.  80 kph is 50 mph.  The fastest, FASTEST we are legally allowed to drive in Japan is 50 mph.  However, EVERYONE breaks the speed limit on the expressway.  Going 20, 30, or even 40 kph faster than the limit is typical.  I’m not a fast driver, (I’ve actually been accused of driving like a grandma) but I routinely go AT LEAST 20 kph over the speed limit on the expressway.  Policeman #1 and #2 clocked Ian going 108 kph……as in 67 mph.  Ian got a “speeding” ticket for going LESS than the average speed limit on American interstates.  Let that soak in for just a second.

Once they finished processing the ticket, we could get back into our car.  Policeman #2 retrieved the orange flashing cone from behind our car and told us to wait until he waved us on before we pulled out into traffic.  So….how much did that set us back?  The ticket was 18,000 yen ($191).  I can think of about 298374267169873243 other things I’d like to spend that much money on instead of a stupid ticket.  BLARG!  What’s more is that since we were already running late, Ian was about five minutes late to his class.  Grrrrrrrr……..   

Yeah…… Monday wasn’t exactly the best day for the Reeds.  However, in my next blog I’ve got a great story to tell about a drinking party that I went to with my co-workers, so that’s a LOT happier! 

Disappointment :(

If one word could sum up my feeling right now it would be DISAPPOINTED, y’all.  In my previous blog I wrote about us planning a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia.  I was ESTATIC!!  We worked together really hard and found great deals, figured out how to get Vietnamese and Cambodian visas, looked at hostels to stay at, established a time line, and basically planned out an entire trip in less than two hours.  The only thing left to do was book everything.  We wanted to start out with the flight—no flight means not going.  Mollee found a GREAT flight for only $523, which was a bit more expensive than the flight I had picked out, but it also cut down the travel time exponentially.  I was in charge of booking the flight, but I couldn’t do it on the spot because I didn’t have my credit card with me.  I resigned to do it once I got home. 

HOWEVER, whenever I went to book it later I ran into quite a problem.  It was the ole bait-and-switch tactic.  The price listed was not available.  The website we used was cheaptickets.com….maybe not the most reliable website, so I switched to Kayak.  Kayak also did the same thing.  I found the $523 tickets with the same itinerary, but the only difference was that Kayak allowed me to entered in all of our information BEFORE letting me know that the flight wasn’t available any longer.  FRUSTRATION.

I checked everything: search websites like Expedia, Vayama, Priceline, Orbitz, CheapO Air, and even the actual airline websites.  I played around with dates and times but found NOTHING that wasn’t $200ish more expensive or required us to sacrifice shaving off a couple of days of our trip.  I’m not sure where we’re going from here……..  Ian and I were already pushing the budget with a $523 flight.  I highly doubt our bank account will allow us to tack on another couple of hundred to that.  SO.  FREAKING.  DISAPPOINTED.  I know it’s silly to whine and complain about this whenever we are so fortunate to live where we live and have the life that we have, but DANG IT!  I was really looking forward to Cambodia and Vietnam!  That would be two more stamps on the ole passport, countless pictures, and magical memories made.  I know that everything happens for a reason, but right now I really don’t understand that reason…..  *sigh*

I have already checked into backup options.  Korea, Taiwan, or staying in Japan and visiting Hiroshima are all part of those options.  I don’t know what we’ll do….but never fear!  This world traveler is not going to waste previous vacation time sitting at home!  We’ll go somewhere and definitely have another adventure!!

I had something really weird happen to me yesterday.  I was at the ES yesterday, and one of my favorite teachers asked if I had plans for Spring Break.  I said that I was working all of this week, but next week I took vacation and would hike in different spots around Kyushu.  He asked if I was going alone.  I said no, that my husband was coming with me.  He said, “Oh?  Your husband is coming to Japan to visit?”  I was taken aback for a second by his response.  I told him no, that my husband lives with me here in Yunomae.  He said, “Oh really?  I didn’t know!”  *gasp*  I seriously thought that everyone knew ALL of my business.  Granted…this was at the ES where I’m there only one day of the week.  I’ve never been to a drinking party with the ES teachers, and it’s not like Ian comes to school with me, so I guess it’s possible for those teachers to not know about Ian.  However, would it make sense for me to move to the other side of the world for two years without my husband??  I mean…I guess I left the rest of my family behind…but still.  I honestly couldn’t believe that he didn’t know Ian and I lived together here in town!

That’s all for today.  In the next blog, I’ve got quite a story to tell, so I’ll churn that one out tomorrow!

Surviving Spring Break

(So….I originally wrote this yesterday [Wednesday] but forgot to post it….)

Last Friday I woke up with the craziest dream.  I’m not sure that it could technically be considered a nightmare, but I did bolt upright in bed when it was over.  I dreamed that we were back in Paducah after coming home from Japan.  I had gone back to work at the Parlor but was screwing up darn near everything.  I couldn’t remember table numbers or orders and was falling very behind.  One of my tables who had just sat down was being rude and said to me in a very snotty way, “We just want three Mr. Pibbs.  That’s all.  You got that?  Three Mr. Pibbs.”  I nodded and went back to the drink station to make them, but once I got there I couldn’t remember what they had ordered.  That’s when I woke up, bolting upright in bed saying, “Three Mr. Pibbs!”  I rolled over and looked at the clock.  6:18 AM.  I giggled, thinking about how silly the dream was and went back to bed.

That morning was my ES graduation and THIRD graduation to go to in the past two weeks.  I’m not sure why, but that was the most miserable graduation to go to.  It seemed like it would NEVER end.  I prefer ES graduation over JHS graduation because the kids are dressed in their best clothes and are just so darn cute!  The boys all wear dark pants and some type of dressy sweater which is usually a little baggy because it is presumably an older sibling or father’s sweater.  The girls generally wear cute little blazers with skirts and knee socks.  They are seriously just too precious for their own good!  However, even the cutely dressed students couldn’t entertain me.  The speeches seemed too long, the pomp and circumstance just a little too drug out, and to top it off the gym (where graduation took place) was freezing!  I spent the rest of the day trying to knock the chill from sitting in that gym for two hours.

All weekend we wanted to have a hanami (picnic under the cherry blossoms), but the weather just wouldn’t cooperate with us!  Please remember how we wanted to go last Wednesday, but we were rained out.  Well, we tried to go on Saturday, but the weather was kind of icky.  We decided to go on Sunday even though it was still cloudy and not perfect hanami weather.  The sakura of Mizukami are absolutely BEAUTIFUL.  It was a little breezy, so some of the blossoms were falling off, and it seemed like it was snowing.  The snowing sakura trees surrounding the mountainous reservoir were absolutely breath-taking!  Since Mizukami is known for its sakura, the Sakura Matsuri (cherry blossom festival) was going on when we went.  There were bands playing, games for the kids, and lots of Japanese carnival food.  We found a nice tree to sit under away from the crowds and enjoyed our picnic lunch before taking pictures.  I hate to take so many pictures because I know you, as the viewer, think that it’s just ANOTHER cherry tree.  However, the pictures just don’t do it justice.  Sakura season in Japan truly is a beautiful and magical time of year. 

      

We stayed in Mizukami until the weather finally turned, and it began to rain.  Ian and I invited our fellow hanami-ers back to our house to watch a movie.  Devin suggested we watch Rise of the Guardians.  Ian and I hadn’t seen it yet, but it was a cute little animated movie about the guardians of children, namely fictional characters like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, Jack Frost, and the Tooth Fairy.  I was pleasantly surprised at how good and funny the movie was and definitely would recommend it to anyone!

Monday morning began this long, boring week of work.  It’s Spring Break……but not really.  Instead of all the the students and teachers taking the week off and doing whatever the heck they feel like at home, everyone comes to school even though there are no classes.  The teachers still work, and the students come to school during the mornings to practice their club activities.  Even though it’s Spring Break, I don’t have the time off and must use vacation days to get any time off.  So…..what do I do everyday?  ………….. a whole bunch of nothing!  Monday morning was absolutely miserable for me because I was trying to think of what I could do.  The first couple of hours I was bored to tears, but then I got into the rhythm of it, and by today (Wednesday) I’ve created plenty of little tasks for myself.  This is what I have to do to survive Spring Break!  I’ve written a blog everyday so far, planned my English board for the month of April, checked Facebook regularly, cleaned my desk, planned our Golden Week vacation to Cambodia and Vietnam (more about that in a sec), and done other little odds-and-ins to keep busy.

And speaking of that Golden Week holiday…..it’s planned!  After deciding if it was financially possible for us to go or not, we decided that yes, it was.  If that means that we pinch pennies by not going out to eat as often, I’m fine with that.  If that means that we don’t get to go up to the city one time that we really want to, that’s fine.  If that means that we’re poor as church mice for a while when we go back to the States, so be it.  I’d much rather do without a few things and be able to take this trip.  Once we get back home, we’ll have far fewer opportunities for traveling, so carpe diem!!!

Since we’re all at work today (minus Ian) but have nothing to do, Ian, Melissa B, Mollee, and I decided to get online at 1:30 and research/plan our Cambodia/Vietnam trip via g-chat.  In about two hours, we found flights, decided where exactly we wanted to go, what we wanted to see, how to get from place to place, and even found places to stay.  I was impressed with our research today!  So here’s a breakdown of our vacation to Vietnam/Cambodia: We leave from Fukuoka on April 29th and land in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam that afternoon.  (Ho Chi Minh used to be called Saigon….as in where the Vietnam War ended.)  We’re spending the 30th there before catching a bus and hopping the border to Cambodia on the 1st.  We’re going from Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap that day, a whopping ten hour bus ride.  Then on the 2nd, we’re exploring the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  The next day, the 3rd, we’re heading to Sihanouksville, a beautiful beach town on Cambodia’s Gulf of Thailand and staying until the 5th.  Then we’re heading back to Ho Chi Minh, where we fly out on the 6th.  Back to Fukuoka it is!  I’m VERY excited about this vacation!  Plus, (bonus!) I only have three weeks of work in April.  I took off the first week for Spring Break, and Golden Week starts during the last week.  Woot!  After I burn through that vacation time, that means that I only have one vacation day left to use, and I probably won’t use it until the end of July.  With all of the packing, cleaning, and last minute things that need to happen, I’m sure I’ll need a day off!

That’s all for today!  I’m sure that I’ll have plenty of time to write another blog tomorrow!

Excited for Easter!!

There are exactly four more days of Lent (but who’s counting?), and I couldn’t be happier!  I tried to give up sweets this year (after a few unsuccessful years) and promised myself that I was going to do it.  I’ve done it before, and it’s hard, but I AM CAPABLE of doing it.  I was doing really well, too…..up until White Day.  March 14th, exactly one month after Valentine’s Day, is White Day, and boys are supposed to give girls chocolates since the girls gave them chocolates on Valentine’s Day.  Several male teachers brought chocolates to school that day and gave them to the female teachers, including myself.  I sat them on my desk and was going to take them home and put them in my Lenten sweets box.  However, they sat out on my desk all day long.  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that they grew little eyes to stare me down and were screaming “EEEEAAAAATTTTT ME!  EEEEEEEAT ME!  EAT ME!”  I felt guilty about it, but I broke Lent and ate the three pieces of chocolate sitting on my desk.  Then I went home that afternoon and got into my sweets box.  I totally chocolate binged.  Since the day was already ruined, I asked Ian to stop on his way home and get me a Coke.  FAILURE. 

Last Saturday we went up to the city for Ian’s boss’ birthday party.  It was a traditional Japanese drinking party in which you pay a set price for food and drinks.  There were two options: soft drink nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink) for 2,900 yen or alcohol nomihoudai for 3,500 yen.  Of course I chose the soft drink option since I don’t drink, and I figured that if I was going to spend that much money, I might as well get my money’s worth.  So….I broke Lent and had Coke.  Tonight is my school’s end-of-the-year party, and it’s the same thing.  4,000 yen for eating and drinking, and I’ve already resigned to breaking Lent again.  Jesus understands money practicality, right??  I mean….if I’m going to pay that much for something, I might as well get it, right?  Right??  RIGHT???  Help me justify my sinning!! 

I’m really excited for Sunday for more reasons than just guilt-free sugar binge eating.  We’re going to Mass in Hitoyoshi that morning, and I’ve already decided that I’m going to get one of my cute summer dresses out of my summer box and wear that.  After Mass, we’re going to Mr. Donut to eat ALL THE DONUTS.  A couple of friends are meeting us there for breakfast, and I already said that no judgments should be passed on the amount of donuts that are consumed.  Then later that afternoon several of the Kuma-gun ALTs are getting together for Easter dinner.  Hurray!  Ian ordered a ham online for us to cook and enjoy, and everyone else is bringing side dishes and desserts.  CAN’T WAIT FOR HAM.  Ham is a rarity over here.  We have beef, chicken, and fish regularly, but ham is special.  Just to give you some sort of idea about how rare ham is over here, Ian paid 17,000 yen ($180) for a 5-7 kilo (11-15 pound) ham.  We’re all splitting the price of it, but ham doesn’t come cheap here!! 

Another reason that I’m excited for Easter is because it starts my wonderful Spring Break.  I took off all next week so that I don’t have to sit around at school and twiddle my thumbs.  Ian and I are planning on hiking around our area.  There are a few trails close to home that I want to do.  Kirishima, where Ian works, is known for good hiking, so we want to hike down there, and we might even make our way up to Aso and hike Nakadake and Takadake, the highest peaks on Kyushu.  I asked Ian if he’d be cool with using our tent and camping out instead of getting hotel rooms.  He (surprisingly!) said yes, so the nights that we don’t come back home, we’ll just stay in the tent.  If it gets too cold to camp, we’ll sleep in the car.  Someone asked what we’d do for showers, but a nice thing about Japan is that there are onsens (hot springs) everywhere, so we can stop there for baths.  Plus, soaking in the hot water will relax our muscles so that we don’t get sore.  Every time that I’ve gone to the onsen after a hike, I’ve never gotten sore.  I’m excited for next week!  It’s going to be another great adventure! 

So….who else is with me?  Who else is looking forward to Easter and all of the chocolate bunny goodness it brings?

Easter party and cookies = happy eikaiwa students

Last Wednesday was a national holiday, so I had the day off.  I tried to sleep in, but did my body let me?  NOPE!  I pretty much don’t need an alarm clock because my body wakes itself up at about the same time everyday, which sucks on days off.  I actually woke up to the sound of thunder that morning.  Thunder is pretty uncommon around these parts, and in the year and a half that I’ve been here, I can probably count the number of times that I’ve heard thunder on one hand .  We have rain, but rarely does it thunder or lightning, and usually if it does, it’s during rainy or typhoon season.  Generally if you hear thunder/see lightning you know that it’s going to be a serious storm.  Wednesday morning took me by surprise because it was so random…. just a distant grumble of thunder and no big deal.  As crazy as it sounds, it reminded me of thunderstorms at home and made me long for them. 

I laid in bed for a while, but once I deemed it time to finally get up I went to the kitchen to make something that I’ve been wanting to try for a while….breakfast pizza.  DELICIOUS!  I made a biscuit crust, white gravy for the “sauce,” and then scrambled eggs, bacon, and a drizzle of cheese for the toppings.  It was fattening, greasy, and delicious.  By the time I finished it, Ian was waking, so we enjoyed a late breakfast together. 

 

We had planned on having a hanami (picnic under the cherry blossoms) that day, but the rain canceled that trip for us.  Instead Melissa came over, and we did absolutely nothing except be fat and lazy.  We watched TV, laid around, and caught up on The Walking Dead.

Thursday at school was the last actual day of classes.  At the end of each of my classes, the kids gave my JTE and I “thank you” speeches and little booklets of thank you cards.  Each student had written a thank you card.  Some were in English, some Japanese, and some a hybrid, but it was really the thought that counts.  It meant so much to me for them to do that.  Even if it was a forced thing that they HAD to do, it still made me super happy!

That night I had my kid’s eikaiwa class.  Since it was the last class of the year, I wanted to do something special with them, so I reserved the kitchen (which is right next to my classroom) for that night, bought the ingredients to make cookies, and decided to have a little fun.  I had three tasks for them that night: 1) make cookies, 2) make Easter baskets, and 3) dye eggs.  As soon as they arrived and realized that we were cooking that night, they got excited.  I set up three stations, cooking stuff on one table, Easter basket stuff on another, and finally egg dye stuff on the last table.  Step one was to make the cookies, which took a little longer than I thought it would.  The kids were so ridiculously diligent with mixing the batter.  I tried to preheat the oven while they did that, but I wasn’t having any luck.  The darn thing would seem like it was working, and then it would beep and turn off.  It took me almost fifteen minutes of trial and error before realizing that the oven was a dual fuel source—it required both electricity AND gas, and I didn’t have the gas on.  *face palm*  Once I figured that out, the kids started placing cookies on the tray.  They dough was too sticky to roll out, but they managed to make hearts shaped cookies.

 

While the cookies were in the oven, we moved onto step two: Easter baskets.  The kids knew nothing of Easter.  I asked if they knew “Easter,” and they gave me confused looks.  I didn’t go into all of the details.  Instead, I simply told them that it was a “Catholic holiday.”  (Yes, I know that it’s a Christian holiday, but they don’t understand what a “Christian” is.  They do, however, know what a “ka-to-ri-ku” is due to all of the missionaries who came to Japan way back when.)  I found a cute crafty idea online to make baskets shaped like bunnies out of paper plates.  (I swear….I’ve lost track of how many different crafts I’ve used paper plates for……)  After I demonstrated how to make them, I grabbed the cookies out of the oven while the kids put their bunnies together.

The final craft event of the night was egg dyeing.  Last year, one of my friends sent me an Easter package that just so happen to have egg dye in it.  When I received the box, it was after Easter, so I never got to use it, but this year it made for a great success!  The kids had never done this before.  (Honestly, it had been a while since I’d done it, and I had forgotten how to do it!  How much vinegar went in..?  Did I have to mix any water with it..?)  They wanted to do one tablet of each color.  I showed them how to dunk the eggs into the water and told them that they could do one color or five…just whatever their little hearts desired!  They went absolute bananas with this and actually made some really beautiful eggs!

Once all of the crafts were finished, I let them eat the cookies and fill their baskets with eggs.  We had a nice little end-of-the-year party, and I’m really going to miss those girls being in my eikaiwa class!  I hope next year’s class is just as good as this year’s was! 

Tis the season for graduations

Monday morning I woke up, and my body IMMEDIATELY reminded me of the previous day’s event.  3,333 steps DEFINITELY killed my legs.  They didn’t hurt so much when I walked in a straight line, but if I had to go upstairs (for example, going to class) or when I stood up or sat down, it huuuuuuurt.  It wasn’t the sorest I’d been after a hike, but it definitely wasn’t comfortable!  The soreness hung around darn near all week, too.  Even as I write this today, Friday, my calves and quads STILL remind me of 3,333 steps when I flex them.

I love spring time flowers.  After a long and hard winter, it is refreshing to see something so colorful and scented.  The only downside to seeing all of these flowers is that none of them are at my house.  Sad day!  Our neighbor behind us has some type of rose bush that borders our back yard and blooms in fall, but that’s the only flowers that we have.  Soooooo…I decided to take matters into my own hands.  Monday night on the way to Kirishima with Ian, I noticed a large patch of jonquils growing along the side of the road and told him that I wanted to stop there and get some on the way back.  At 9:30 PM that night as we were driving through the rural darkness on our way home, I kept to my word and pulled the car over.  I picked the largest handful that I could without getting caught by any passing cars.  When I handed them to Ian through the window, he said, “AHHHHH!  They’re leaking!”  All of the flower juices were flowing out of the stems!  I’ve never seen so much goop come out of flowers like that!  Luckily we had an old McDonald’s cup to put them in. 

Tuesday mornings I always have nursery schools.  Like normal, I went to Jikou followed by Yunomae nursery school.  However, I realized that something was wrong when I first arrived at Yunomae.  Not ONE teacher was in the teacher’s room.  That was very strange.  I walked back to my classroom and could tell that something was up.  I heard clapping, music, and noticed a few of my kids lined up outside the very last classroom (which also doubles as a tiny auditorium).  As I slowly walked back there, the head honcho of Yunomae nursery school saw me, seemed shocked, and said something to the fact of “We’re having graduation today.  I’m so sorry!  You don’t have to teach today, but please stay and watch.”  (Immediately I realized my mistake.  I knew that one of my days at Yunomae was canceled in April, and I thought it was the last one.  Turns out it was THAT one.)  I’m so glad I made that mistake, though because it allowed me to watch a nursery school graduation.

Nursery school graduations are by far the CUTEST graduations.  The kids are tiny and squirmy, and while the ceremony still has the structure of JHS and ES graduations, it lacks the formality or discipline.  The kids just aren’t quite old enough to grasp it yet.  Throughout the entire thing, teachers were running back and forth organizing last minute details, fixing the projector that wasn’t working, or making sure that the kids were on their best behaviors.  If the graduates didn’t bow low enough when coming onto the stage, the teachers would make them do it again.  If they wringed their fingers or didn’t step properly, one of the teachers would smack them to get their attention.  If they didn’t step on the piece of red tape marking where they should stand, a teacher would point to the EXACT spot where they were supposed to stand when receiving their “degree.”  Each student had to stand up, walk to the stage, stand while a recorded message from their parents was read, and then receive their “degree,” which was actually just a story book.  I’m not really sure why it was a story book.  Maybe it was their favorite story…?  Maybe it represented the change from happy-play-time in nursery school to let’s-start-real-school?  Not sure.  Anyway, it was precious, and nursery school graduation is by far my favorite type of graduation! 

Tuesday afternoon my first graders at the JHS were wilder than bucks.  Since it’s the last week of school, we played games, but one group of boys in particular was just too much!  They weren’t playing the game AT ALL and were taking their pencil pouches, which were in the shape of a sheep and bear, and putting them together in a VERY SUGGESTIVE way.  They continued to ram the animals’ downstairs parts together and laugh hysterically.  They then took a rubber band and tied the animals together around the waist.  My JTE was doing NOTHING about it, so I walked over to the group and took the animals away.  This only caused them to laugh harder because the foreigner was holding the animals having sex in her hands.  UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH JHS boys are perverts!!!

I’ve still got plenty to tell, but to prevent this from getting too long, I’ll stop here.

Just 3,333 steps to the top!

Sunday was another day’s adventure for us.  Joel, one of our friends who lives close to the city, invited us up to his house on Sunday night for pizza.  He made a brick oven about a year ago, and Ian has been dying to see it.  Instead of driving all the way there just for that, we decided that we should make the most of our trip and do something else along the way.  Ian and I decided that we’d tackle the longest staircase in Japan….the Nippon Ichi.  It’s merely 3,333 stone steps to a shrine at the top of a mountain.  People come from all over Japan to climb the steps, and it just so happens that we live only an hour and a half from it.  While some might think it’s crazy to climb 3,333 steps for “fun,” it proved to be quite an adventure for us!!

We recruited Melissa to come with us, claiming that it would be good practice for when we climb Fuji in August.  She agreed, and as we were on the way to Misato (the town where the staircase is) it started to rain.  However, we didn’t let it dampen our spirits!  We found the staircase, which was deep in the countryside, and took a few “before” pictures (in which we were all smiles) before ascending.  Since we were much higher up in the mountains and the sun wasn’t shining, it was quite chilly.  It didn’t take long for us to warm up, though!  After conquering two of the loooooooong sets of stairs, we were already panting and clutching our sides.  One thing that I think continued to encourage us was the old people.  We’d see old men, who were probably triple our ages, coming down the staircase, so we had the mantra of “if they can do it, we can do it!!” 

After an hour or so of walking up, up, up, and up, I thought the stairs would never end.  I’d like to think that I’m in good condition, but these stairs kicked my butt!  3,333 steps doesn’t sound like that much when you’re at the base.  However, once you’ve climbed the first couple of hundred, you start to realize just how far that is……..  Melissa and I were about at the same pace, and it was as if we could read each other’s minds because we’d both stop and break at the same time.  When it started to drizzle on us, it made the journey just that much more depressing.  We didn’t give up, though! 

The nature and scenery surrounding the staircase was unbelievable.  Had the day been clear instead of cloudy, it probably would have been more beautiful, but even with the clouds hanging low over the evergreen mountains, it was quite scenic.  We stopped for a break in one spot and realized that there were two deer in the woods beside the staircase.  Ian and I started making deer calls, and the deer turned, looked at us, and then sprinted off in the opposite direction.  HA!  HA!  I’m not sure what we said in deer language, but apparently it was enough to scare the deer off!!

It took about two hours to reach the top.  We had a couple of fake out moments when we thought we were at the top only to see another set of steps lurking in the distance.  It was the most downtrodden feeling ever……  Once we reached the top, we actually weren’t sure if it was the top.  We were expecting something a little……more.  While the view was beautiful, it wasn’t the best.  Supposedly you can see all the way to the sea from the top, but the clouds and haze obscured our view.  We followed the path and walked around the side of the mountain to see the shrine.  This was also a disappointment.  It was one of the crappiest shrines I’ve even seen.  Everything about it looked rundown and un-impressive.  Since we were on the top of a mountain, the wind was whipping around, and it was COLD!  We decided to snap a few quick pictures at the top (to prove that we’d done it) and began our descent.

While the way down was much quicker, it didn’t stop from hurting.  All of us were in pain at that point in time.  My legs were so stressed that they were trembling.  I held onto the handrail just in case one of my legs gave out….so that I wouldn’t go tumbling down 2,193 (or some other random number) of steps.  Melissa was pretty smart and slipped one leg over the railing so that she could slide down an entire set of steps.  Genius!  However, her plan ended up failing because the railing was wet, so her downstairs (no pun intended) area was soaking wet!

Once we finally reached the base, we took a couple of “after” pictures in which we definitely look much more jagged and exhausted.  No smiles that time!  Our next step (ha! no pun intended again!) was to go to Joel’s, where he had fresh brick oven pizza waiting on us.  It was DELICIOUS, and best of all it was COVERED in a thick layer of cheese. (Japanese pizzas have cheese barely sprinkled on them.)  It was the perfect end to an adventurous day!  We arrived home that night around 10:30.  I quickly got my things ready for Monday, showered, and we both crashed within minutes of getting in bed.

*disclaimer* Sorry that I don’t have any pictures from our climb.  The only camera that we took was Ian’s, and he hasn’t uploaded the pictures yet.  Sorry, guys!