Hello Hello, how ya doing? It has been a swell month for me in Japan. So my GREEs (Grace's Readers Everlasting Enjoyers) buckle up and read up.
The new craze at the start of December was quesadillas. My friends had brought me back tortillas from the big city (aka Kochi City) and I was very excited to have a little taste of Mexican food. Day one of quesadillas I decided to make my own salsa. I couldn't find salsa in the stores but I still really wanted it so I decided to make some. I'd say it didn't turn out too half-bad. I wouldn't have eaten it with chips but it paired perfectly with my quesadilla and that's all I needed. A couple days and 4 quesadillas later, my heart was full and happy.
The weekend of the 7th I had a little Yakiniku party (grilling meat party) with some of the peeps in the area. The meat was delicious and the company was even better. I'm glad that everyone in my surrounding area is so nice and interesting.
The next day I was invited to a nice lunch/book release event. The lunch was excellent.
The next couple of days I made some Korean food with ingredients I had bought in Kochi when taking the JLPT. The were big successes and I think every time I cook Korean it gets better.
Speaking of Kochi, I had JET conferences in Kochi City on December 10th and 11th (Tue and Wed). Since there were two days of conferences and Kochi is a two-hour drive, the BOE gave us funding to stay overnight. So, many good times were to be had. Day 1 conferences focused on teaching and gave us information and advice on how to teach better. After the conference, I hurried on over to this bagel shop near our hotel. If you don't know, Japan has a serious lack of bagels which is very tragic for a bagel lover like myself. BUT! I found this bagel shop and their bagels were so good 🥹 It brought much joy to my mouth, my stomach, and my mind to have good bagels once again. After the bagel errand, I wandered the surrounding city by myself. My friends were too tired but I didn't let that stop me. I ended up finding this cute antique/flower shop and buying very cute letter cards and a Christmasy coaster. I then met up with some people to have some Korean food for dinner.
Day 2 conference was about like in Kochi prefecture and mingling with the other JETs. I got breakfast with my partner newbie and we chatted about how these past few months have been for us and what we want to do after JET which was nice. This conference day was much more fun because firstly, it was held in this awesome library! The library looked relatively new and had beautiful architecture. I went early in the morning before the conference just to check it out and walk the aisles of books. The activity I was selected for in the afternoon was first aid with the Kochi City firefighters. It was very informative and I learned how to do CPR and operate an AED.
After the conference, the Shimanto squad decided to hit up Kochi Castle because it was having an exhibit. The exhibit was called "Shadow Up Kochi Castle" and it was so cool! You received these glasses and when you put them on shadows became 3D. So, set up around Kochi Castle were optical illusion exhibits and then you could put a giant shadow onto Kochi Castle as well. Then, from the top of Kochi Castle, you could caste a big shadow down onto the ground. The exhibit was so sun and the workers were so nice so I had a great time. After the castle, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed back to Shimanto.
The next day at work, the semi-retired semi-part-time-working old lady who assists the ALTs came to my school and she wanted to show me this really old tree whose leaves had turned bright yellow and it made the news. The past couple of years the leaves and been blown off before they had turned a vibrant yellow so everyone was happy to see the leaves this year. Now, this isn't a regular tree we are talking. This tree is said to be about 800 years old! 😱 And it has a younger cousin whose about 300-400 years old! This was the oldest tree I have ever met and it was so cool to see both of them. The older tree was so big my hug only went about a third of the way around the trunk. Each branch out of the truck was the size of a regular tree trunk. Another thing that is so cool about this tree, is that there is documentation of this tree spanning back hundreds of years, one of the variables in calculating its age. So, I'm very thankful the old lady showed me the tree.
The weekend of the 14th was also fun. The night of the 13th I went to a karaoke birthday day which are always fun. Then on the 14th I went to a little Christmas concert put on by my friends and their Japanese friends which was very wonderful. After, we went to grab drinks and food at the Jamaican izakaya nearby.
On December 15th, the ALTs were invited to an event hosted by the Soroptimist International of Hata. This was an organization made for and run by sweet older ladies. The event this year was making, and eating, Japanese traditional food. We split into teams and we each made something. My team made Zenzai, a red bean and dango sweet soup for dessert, and Osumashi, a Japanese-style clear soup with pretty ingredients. Both turned out perfectly and it was so much fun to work with the Japanese ladies. Then, it was time to eat our creations! Everything was sooo delicious and it was great to eat all together. I definitely want to try again sometime.
The next week, on a random Tuesday, I was invited to assist in the eating of a mass vegetable harvest done by my friends. Three of the ALTs work at our big boss's farm and they grew lettuce, broccoli, spinach, and more. There was so much of it though they needed help eating it and I was happy to volunteer and save the day 👸😂 Each person made a different creation. The first was a Greek-inspired salad, 10/10. The second was a Korean-inspired ssam (lettuce wrap), 10/10). The third was Indian-inspired palak paneer, 10/10. It was a feast to be had by all.
The next fun thing I did was ladies' sip and paint night on the 20th. The three female ALTs in Shimanto finally decided to have a ladies' night and what better way than to sip some wine and paint. So, both the wine and water color paint were provided and I just got to show up and have a good time. I was inspired by the sunset I saw earlier that day in Shimanto which wasn't one of the deep orange and pink ones, but a soft yellow fade into blue ones with pretty mountain silhouettes. I ended up painting a beautiful piece that now hangs on my apartment wall. Next, I painted some storm clouds with purple lightening. There was no reason for this just felt like it. Lastly, as my inspiration faded, I painted a wine glass and a Christmas tree. Good painting and even better company.
On the 24th I went to a Christmas party! There weren't too many ALTs left in the area by this time so the stragglers got together to have a nice Christmas party. I was a lovely potluck style party with hotpot being the main feature. One super fun thing about this party was that everyone was from a different country. We had America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, China, and South Africa. That meant we had food from various cultures. I brought twice baked potatoes which my family always has on Christmas. I also brought a small loaf of Stolen, a German bread my family always makes every year. There is a German bakery in town so I was very happy to learn that they make Stolen around Christmas time. We also played White Elephant and I ended up going home with a nice new teacup and matching small stuffed animal. The party was amazing and the company even better.
I guess the theme of this blog post is that the company I spend my time with is really great here. The next blog post will feature the opposite of that 😂 I embark on my solo trip to Kyushu for a week tomorrow so stay tuned for that post. Happy holidays my GREEs 🎄🎉
P.S. My pottery cup came in the mail! I think it looks pretty good, doesn't it?
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