Banana beer and naked men

As per usual I'm feeling kind of random- so this entry will also be rather random.

Current overused Japanese word: 'Kawaii'- Japanese for cute. I hear it so much as the Japanese are obsessed with all things cute. Grown men sport cute little characters on their keychains, adults' cars are laden with soft toys and cute cartoon characters are on display everywhere. Which is why I can walk down the street wearing my Sesame Street bag without a second thought. Even how you say the word itself is cute. I'm
trying to wean myself off of using it indiscriminately. But look at this cute poster instructing you not to enter- don't you feel that you should respect what the cute little security guard is telling you?



My lovely JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English) from the school I love took me to dinner to say thank you for my work with them, and asked me to come back next school year. Were it just my good school I'd work at as opposed to having to work in both the crap school and the good school, I could be tempted to stay...



This picture was taken at Universal Studios Japan on the Jurassic Park ride. The look of fear in my eyes after an seemingly uneventful boat ride is transformed to a mini rollercoaster was genuine. I swore like a Tourettes sufferer all the way down...



This was written by a student of the local high school that many of my current students would kill to be accepted in to. I thought it was kind of poetic...



At midnight I witnessed the insanity that is the Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival) in Saidajii. This is where men take to the streets wearing only a fundoshi (think of the thonged nappy that sumo wrestlers wear), they are then doused in cold water and then compete with hundreds of men to get hold of a stick in order to win a cash prize. Yes, this festival has a religious origin, but bear in mind that it is Winter and even with layer upon layer of clothing, it is still stupidly cold... Apparently there is a similar festival for women but not surprisingly it's very rare. This is why women live longer than men.



This entry was partially titled after the wonder that is banana beer, also not to be missed is the wonder that is green tea beer- both can be found at one of my favourite restaurants in Tsuyama- a quiet little place we foreigners call 'Salalu'. Banana beer, only in Japan, eh?

I have yet to officially resign because I still can't bring myself to actually finish my Japanese adventure... Funnily enough my star sign for today echoes this:

Virgo
Even if today's your day off, you still might be thinking about work. You have a choice to make, yet it's hard if you are pulled in two directions. Instead of looking for the long-term solution, try focusing on the immediate satisfaction you can derive when you help others. Doing your current job as efficiently as possible makes more sense than turning your life upside down.

And to close this rambly entry, here's BoA. She's Korean but this song is sung in Japanese.

Sob!

No real entry, just pics from my last day at my favourite school...

The teachers came out to wave me off and as I cycled off I could hear my name being screamed by a bunch of kids. The brass band were waiting on a balcony and played a song for me. The tears I'd prided myself on not shedding so far, fell, I couldn't help it. And then the sports teams came out to line the gates and wave goodbye to me, and as I finally cycled away, with tears in my eyes, the brass band started up again... I LOVE these kids :(

These are pictures of some of my wonderful and crazy second and third graders- the 1st graders generally made me want to consider getting my tubes tied...











And to close, here's some Japanese rock from Monobright