3 Hour Go-Kart Endurance Race

Yes, you read that correctly. This past Sunday (and actually, one time in July as well), I got to participate in a 3- hour go-kart race. It's not quite as extreme as it sounds though, but just as fun.

Omura has a go-kart circuit, a really nice track where you can race pretty much anytime. The track itself is really fun to drive on, with hairpin turns, other turns with names I don't know and a couple straightaways where you can really put the pedal to the metal and gun it.

I've never been to the course on a normal day, only for these special events. There is a group that tours go-kart tracks in Kyushu with endurance karts, which I assume means they have bigger (kerosene) gas tanks and don't go quite as fast as the normal ones. So about twice a year, they come to Omura. 

When I said it wasn't as extreme as it sounds, what I meant is that I didn't do the whole 3 hours myself; it's a relay team. In July my team only had 4 people, so I drove about 45 minutes. This time around we had 7 people, so we all only got 2 x 12 minute goes. But I won janken (rock paper scissors) and got to do an extra few minutes at the end of the first session.

In July, there were a lot of complaints about some karts being faster than others, so halfway through this time around, we had to switch karts to try to even the playing field. Not that it would make any difference for us though, we didn't expect to, or even really desire to win. We were just out there for fun. Most of the other teams were decked out in racing uniforms and gear, very professional looking. Some even had matching jackets! We were no match. And low and behold, we didn't measure up. On the plus side, we didn't get last this time! We got 13th out of 14 teams.

As far as driving itself goes, I was a little hesitant at first, but by the end of my second round, I was going around some turns without braking.  I did spin out once or twice, but it was fun. I wasn't going as fast as last time though, it was rainy so the ground was wet, so it was a little slippery. I also got really dirty from the water and dirt splashing up.

It was very fun, and I look forward to doing it again.

Oops!

Yesterday... I lost my wallet. I don't know what happened! One minute I had it, the next I couldn't pay for dinner! Apparently, I dropped somewhere near the station. Good thing I live in the land revered for it's reputation of getting-things-back-if-you-lose-them.

This morning I received three missed calls from the local koban (police box). They had my wallet! All I had to do was drive down to the main police station and claim it. They had taken everything out and made me check it all, making sure everything was there before I took it (because I know to the 1 yen how much I had in there right? I at least knew how many bills I had...).  I was amused that they didn't take out the few dimes and pennies and earrings I had in there and make me check those too. After filling out a short form, I was back in action.

It's a good thing I wasn't without it long, because technically, it's illegal for me to walk around without my Alien Registration card.

Omura Swim Meet

Last weekend I spent my Sunday much as I spent countless Sundays in my life, at a swim meet.  There was a swim meet at the local pool, where my school's club team was competing. This was the first time I've seen them race since I started working with them in the summer.

I was expecting it to be a swim meet only for junior high schools in Omura, so when I saw bus-fulls of elementary school kids I thought I mistook the day of meet. I was indeed mistaken, but not about the day; the meet included local club teams and high schools as well. It turned out to take a lot longer that I had anticipated, lasting over 6 hours!

The swim meet was pretty much the same as any one I've swam in, but there were some differences:

• In Japanese fashion, there was an opening and closing ceremony with some speeches.
• Officials wore blue, not white. 
• There were also a ton of Officials. For a meet of this level in the US, we might have had 3 or 4 officials. There were at least 6 or 7 watching the pool at all times.
• Everyone had to be in a staging area well before their event. This is something we only do for the little kids in the US. 
• There were no touch-pads (not that surprisingly), and there was only one "pickle," or button to stop the electric timing system, and no watches or scoreboard. 
• Parents weren't allowed on deck, they were restricted to the upstairs viewing windows and to peering in through windows from the bitter cold outside.  This made sense though, since the pool and deck is really small there. 
• Before every race the name and school/club of every swimmer was announced (I don't think we would do this at a meet of this level at home). That swimmer then had to bow to the pool. This took a long time, every heat. I calculated that they could have saved at least 30 minutes if they didn't do it.
• After racing, the swimmer bows to the pool and to the timer. 
• You're not allowed to get up to the edge of the pool to cheer (but my school had some fun cheers that we yelled out if one our members was swimming, but we might have been the only team that cheered).

 It was a lot of fun to go to a swim meet again. Maybe the next one, I'll be the one swimming! (Probably not, but that would be nice.)

Fukuoka Auto Show

This weekend I went to the Fukuoka Auto Show with some friends. I got to sit on the most powerful motorcycle in the world (Kawasaki ZX-14) and in an army vehicle of some kind. It was pretty much like any other auto show I've been to, just a little smaller and more cramped. There was a small room showcasing alternative fuel powered vehicles, which was pretty interesting. I saw a scooter made by this college team that runs on ethanol and/or old beer.

Ouch! Snowboarding.

Last weekend I went on a road trip to a skiing spot in Shimane prefecture (north of Hiroshima). To say the least, it hurt a lot. But, it was really really fun and I can't wait to do it again.

We left Nagasaki around midnight on Friday and drove for 6 hours.  We took an hour nap in the parking lot waiting for the rental shop to open and then dove in.  To our disappointment we happened to choose Family Day and Ladies' Day, so there were a lot of people there, namely a lot of families. On the plus side, I got a free soft drink for being a lady.

It took me awhile to get the hang of snowboarding. I started out learning with my friend, but I decided to go out on my own for awhile and just practiced over and over and finally I started getting it. By the end of the first day I had improved a lot.  However, this process did not come painlessly. In fact, by the end of the day I had a very sore butt, sore knees and a swollen hand from all the falling and sliding I'd done. But the pain was worth it and I was excited to get on the slopes again the next day. 

The weather the next day was not quite as pleasant, although there were far fewer people. It was very foggy, snowy and cold, so I was a little hesitant and didn't really like going down the hill without being able to see much, so I wasn't too eager to try many new things. I did get a little better and was much more comfortable. However after a few hard falls (since I was going faster now, I was falling faster, which hurts more!) on the same spot on my hip and bum, I decided I needed to take it a little easy.

It was so much fun! There are spots closer to Nagasaki, but I hear they aren't as good. So we'll see when I get to go again.

On another note, we have been getting quite a bit of snow in Omura lately. Today, it snowed for a good few hours and even stuck to the ground for a bit. The snowflakes were huge! It was fun to  play in it with my elementary school kids, but boy was it cold! I'm not a fan of being able to see my breath in the hallway! I haven't left my house with less than 5 layers (3 being jackets!) in a long time. I don't understand how some of my students can run around in shorts and a thin a jacket, they're crazy!

Usually the snow doesn't stick for long, but a few years ago they had about 6 inches, so maybe we'll get some of that this year too.

Horses, Yards and Mayonnaise

As you know, I spent 18 wonderful days in the US over the holidays. Seeing that I was with most of you for the majority of my time there, I am not going to recount it.

I did, however, have to tell some 500 odd students about it. I can't say it was really an exciting vacation, not to say it wasn't fun. But really, sitting at home with my family watching three seasons of the IT Crowd is not exactly something my students want to hear about.  While preparing my lesson about my vacation, I was saved by my foresight of taking pictures of pretty normal things in America that I thought might interest or even blow-the-minds-of my students. And blow their minds I did.



While I have told them all that we keep a horse (now horses), it was probably a year and a half ago that they heard it, so they all forgot. In preparation of the first photo, I asked them if they remembered what kind of pets we had, mentioning that two are "very big animals". They most often shouted out "lion," "elephant," and for some reason, "snake." So, as with the response I got the first time around, seeing this photo of me riding Festus made jaws drop and kids start yelling "okanemochi" (rich person).

I didn't expect to get quite the explosive reaction as I did for the next jaw-dropper. I pulled out a picture of this play-set that was in someone's backyard in Ann Arbor. My students spend a lot of time at school and at parks; they don't have yards to play in, so when it's time to play outside it's on the dirt "field" and the jungle gym at school. Every time I showed this picture I had to restate several times that this was in fact not in a park, but in someone's yard. They couldn't believe it and again the "okanemochi"'s rang out.


The funniest picture for me to show was this picture of the mayonnaise selection at Hiller's. Mayonnaise in Japan is not really like the stuff at home. With only a single producer (maybe?), Kewpi (read Q-P),  it comes in a squeeze bottle, more like ketchup, it's a little more sour and it's used as anything from a salad dressing to a pizza topping. I asked my students to raise their hand if they liked mayonnaise and surprisingly usually only a handful would, but, regardless, it's a national staple. So then I dropped the bomb shell. I'd point to every row and repeat "mayonnaise". In unison the entire class (and often times the teachers) would exclaim, in the oh so Japanese way, "eeeeeeeeeh?!" I got similar, but not quite as impressive reactions for the Oreo selection and the bread aisle.

It's funny how such simple things in one culture is mind-boggling in another.

I also showed them one dollar bills. To my surprise, kids as young as 4th grade would start spewing the current exchange rate and talking about Freemasons (the latter of which I can only postulate that they learned from the movie National Treasure).  I still have no idea why so many of them knew the exchange rate.

Happy Halloween!

If you didn't know already, Halloween is my favorite holiday.  Halloween in Japan, while not non-existent, lacks the substance and creativity of Halloween in the US. There is no trick-or-treating, no American candy (which I find to be far superior), few costumes and most kids don't really understand it.  So, I teach extraordinary Halloween lessons. This year, I made 3 girls cry from fear/ disgust.

The first part of the lesson was just introducing Halloween words, then we moved into the serious stuff.
First, I got very serious and told them that I had cut off the fingers and skin, and took out hearts, brains and eyeballs of last year's bad students- then to make sure the current students would be good, I made everyone touch said items. 


I prepared 5 bags of said items:
Eyes= pickled quail eggs (better than grapes because they pop if you squeeze too hard).
Brains= konnyaku (http://www.kki.yamanashi.ac.jp/~t04kg014/konnyaku.gif).
Skin: katsuo bushi (sliced, dried bonito).
Heart: one day peeled tomatoes, the next day canned peaches.
Fingers: Chikuwa http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Chikuwa.jpg

After feeling everything and getting thoroughly grossed out the students guessed what each item actually was. It so fun!  

At school, I dressed up as a black cat, but for the annual ALT Halloween party, I dressed up as a mummy.  The party which is hosted in my town at a campsite, is really fun because for all the ALTs and friends not from the US or Canada, it is a special treat because they didn't have Halloween growing up.  Almost everyone gets really into it, with great, often homemade, costumes. The winner this year was Muammar Gaddafi, although there was a great Mr. T, trio of Wizard of OZ characters, and the three blind mice.

For my costume, I went to the "dollar store" and bought A LOT of gauze and wrapped myself up from head to toe.  I wrapped over some leggings and a sweatshirt to ensure warmth!  People really liked it. The only problem was that my face got really itchy after a few hours! 

Mr. T and Gaddafi

Wizard of OZ

Mummy!