Hello
Wednesday, Sep 11, I had a really yummy dinner at an Izakaya so it was a little expensive but it was a nice treat to myself. I had pork with demi-glaze sauce and spring rolls.
Saturday, Sep 14th was "Undoukai" day, or Sports Festival day. I went to the middle school near me's sports festival and it was a lot of fun! I even participated in one of the events! I was on the teachers' team for the relay race against the clubs. Luckily though, I raced against the art clubs and not the sports clubs so it was more fun than stressful. My biggest worry was not slipping. It had been raining off and on all day and had started to rain pretty heavily right when I was supposed to race so the sand track was soaking and many people were slipping. Overall, it was a great time!
I then went to a lovely lunch with the other ALTs who went to the sports festival. I then had a chill rest of my day.
On Sunday, it was the Shimanto Yosakoi festival! If you recall, Yosakoi is a type of Japanese dance. It is much fun and I always enjoy watching the yosakoi dancers. Luckily, there was an area for yosakoi performers right near my apartment so I was able to return 3 times to cool down from the heat. Though it was cloudy out, it was still very hot and humid. I watched and watched and watched, then went to bed.
On Monday I chilled and did my errands and chores and such.
That Thursday I was invited to a kickboxing pilates workout class. I was interested because I have done kickboxing before. But, it was changed to a "soft pilates" stretching class, and let me tell you, soft it was not! I stretched parts of my body I don't usually stretch and worked muscles I don't usually work out. It was tough! But, it was just what I needed after only sitting for the month of August. I met one of my coworkers there and she said she would be going to the pool the day after to swim and I got interested again haha.
So the next day, I went to the pool after work and swam my heart out, I love swimming. Unfortunately, I don't really know my limit yet, so I pushed myself a little too hard and my arms were unmovable after 😂At swimming, during our walking cool down, my coworker (turning friend 😈) and I were discussing our love of cafes so my coworker invited me to one of her favorite cafes the next morning for breakfast since it would soon be closing for a couple months.
Saturday morning I went to the cafe with my new friend 😄 and we had delicious "morning sets" and chatted. We had a good time and then went to study together. The previous night, she mentioned she wanted to study English tomorrow so I suggested we study together since I could use to study some Japanese. So, after the cafe breakfast, we headed to the culture center in town that was newly built and has many handy rooms and facilities and great study places and got to studying. We were there for a couple hours and then my friend (😈) showed me one of her favorite bookstores and I was very grateful because I too love books.
Sunday morning was burger time. The ALTs have a coworker who works at the BOE who has a side hustle of selling burgers and we are his biggest fan so we also go to show support whenever he is making them (and they are delicious). So, I headed over to the station to get a burger and see the crew and lo and behold guess who was there, my new friend. We started chatting and started discussing my possible trip to Kochi City this weekend. I became hesitant to go because of the transportation but as we were discussing, we discovered that we wanted to go to the same place in Kochi, the botanical garden! Her scuba diving plans for the next day, Monday (it was a holiday), had been canceled so we suddenly made the decision to go to Kochi City together to see the botanical garden and Kochi Castle. It was very impromptu but I was up for it 💪
So, on Monday, Sep 23, I headed to Kochi City with my new friend. It was a two-hour drive which we spent pleasantly talking and listening to music. We arrived at the botanical gardens around 10:30am and spent about 3 hours there! We had thought we would only spend two but we took our time looking around and really enjoying the nature and scenery. The weather was quite nice as it is starting to be a bit cooler in the morning and there was a nice breeze that day.
After the botanical garden, we headed for a late lunch. We were both starving by the time we ate around 2pm!
After some refueling, we headed to Kochi Castle. Kochi Castle was of course quite beautiful and we enjoyed roaming the grounds and going inside the castle to read about its history. One thing I really love about Japanese castles is that they are always filled with information on the history of the castle, the time periods, the surrounding areas, and the important people. I always feel like I learn so much when I go to a castle. The views were very beautiful from the top of the castle.
We finished up our exploration of the castle right in time and left right when the area was closing. We then drove back home for two hours enjoying more music and conversation. I was quite tired after the long day of walking so I made a simple meal and then took a hot bath which helped soothe my aching joints and muscles.
Now, I am back to the work week. I live a really peaceful and easy life here so I am quite grateful and really happy. My work is not difficult, the people are kind, the area is pleasant, and I have little to no stressors. I wish for everyone to have the same happiness I have here.
Well, until next time 👋
Comments
Post a Comment