Good timing

Or possibly bad timing from my wallet's (not to mention my budget's) point of view!

I randomly decided to head to WonderGoo today to check out manga and DVDs. Turns out two of my favourite series had tankoubon (i.e. graphic novel/trade paperback editions, as opposed to anthology magazine installments) released recently: 君に届け Kimi ni Todoke (hereafter referred to as KnT) #9 and 幸せ喫茶三丁目 Shiawase Kissa San Choume #14.

In front of the stack of KnT #9 books was a small sign advertising the start of the KnT anime!!! Unfortunately the scheduling is terrible: it airs on Nippon Television on Tuesdays from 24:59-25:29 (i.e. Wednesdays from 00:59-01:29), starting on Oct. 6th! @_@ And of course it has to be that Wednesdays are usually the days I visit an elementary school in the morning before going to Kirita in the afternoon. *sigh* I'm torn between not wanting to miss the chance to actually watch an anime series as it's airing (rather than waiting for the English DVD releases) and not wanting to be a zombie at work.

Knowing my lack and discipline, though (not to mention taking into consideration the fact that I often sleep between 1am and 2am anyway), I expect that I'll be watching the show for the first couple of weeks at least.

I also saw that the recently published (came out 9/12!) Margaret Betsuma anthology had KnT furoku (extra, promotional items): a comic cover and a promotional DVD for the KnT anime! Naturally, I had to buy that as well. (Yes, advertising promotions pretty much always work on me--and I'm also a sucker for "special/limited editions.")

And from looking through that, as well as the small promotional insert inside KnT #9, I learned that there's an online clothing store selling a poncho/sweater thing that the main character, Sawako, wore in volume #7! The store is also selling a "Sawako-image" one-piece dress & parka (hoody) set!


Because, as I said, I'm a sucker for advertising, I've already pre-ordered the "poncho" and I'm just waiting a couple more days (for the start of the next billing period for my credit card) before I order the one-piece set. And I fully recognize that I'm being a little crazy considering that I recently commented (in a forum) on how I think Japanese women's clothes are really cute on Japanese girls/women, but I don't think they really suit me. o_O;;

But yeah, chalk it all up to my desire to make the most of the fact that I'm living in Japan--while I still can. After all, I'm not going to be able to get all these "limited edition" things (or even the regular releases of manga tankoubon/manga anthologies) once I move back to Canada.

Apart from the KnT stuff, I also learned while I was browsing manga in WonderGoo that a Kobato (one of the newer CLAMP series) anime will also start from 8pm on Tuesday, Oct. 6 (on NHK-BS2).

And a drama series for My Girl by Sahara Mizu (a touching story about a man left with a daughter he never knew he had when an old girlfriend passes away) is also starting in October! It will air every Friday night at 11:15pm on TV Asahi starting from Oct. 9!

I'm really excited about all these shows! It's really too bad that they're all starting in October (while I'm still crazy busy), but I'm sure I'll manage to find the time to watch even with work and all the various other obligations. ^___^

Low key night

I think that when I look back on my time in Japan, it's nights like tonight that I will treasure the most.

Instead of going to the AJET Aomori Welcome Party, I opted to stay in Towada to check out the Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) with a teacher friend who used to be at Kirita JHS (she now teaches at a different junior high school in Towada) and her friend.

Even though it was raining a bit, we walked down together to see the various dashi (floats) in the parade. All the taiko players, dancers, people pulling the dashi, etc. were pretty energetic in spite of the rain. We had takoyaki (octopus balls), jaga butter (potato with an unbelievably massive hunk of butter), and shaapin (fried dough pancake with minced meat & veggies inside).

After the parade, we went to a small restaurant for dinner and drinks (just iced Oolong tea for me, of course, since I'm such a weak drinker). The saba (mackeral) and hotate (scallop) sashimi were good, as expected, but the cow liver sashimi was also surprisingly tasty! I've never really liked liver, but when they asked if I was OK with it before they ordered, I figured I'd give it a try and so I said yes. Turns out that liver sashimi tastes quite different from regular cooked liver... I wouldn't mind eating it again!

But yeah, we talked about a bunch of different things: students nowadays, the differences between Japan and Canada, Japanese superstitions (apparently it's OK to kill spiders in the morning, but not good to kill them in the evening!), etc. etc. Even though I didn't speak a lot, I still felt comfortable and included in the conversation, and didn't feel at all awkward or uneasy about my long stretches of silence (which is generally NOT the case when I'm at a large social gathering).

Although I had kind of wanted to go to the Welcome Party to meet the new JETs (in particular to see the Group A newbies again), I really prefer hanging out with people in small groups (3-4 is perfect), so I feel like I definitely made the right choice in staying in Towada for my final Aki Matsuri. I feel a bit guilty about it, but I suspect that I will be making the same choice (to stay at home or to do something with a few friends instead of attending large JET events) a lot this year.

All good things come to an end

For the past who-knows-how-many years the Towada ALTs have played the taiko for the Chuo Community Center Chibiko Koma Odori (children's horse dance) during Aki Matsuri (fall festival). Since my first year it's been the event I look forward to the most during the year.

Apparently next year, though, they won't be doing it anymore. The number of children participating has been declining and starting this year they changed the rules as to what types of floats can be used in the parades, making it difficult for the group. (Up to this year, it was OK to drive floats that use engines, but from this year they stopped allowing that--something to do with float engines not undergoing regular service inspections like regular cars, or so I gather.)

It's really too bad. True, playing taiko for the festival does require a time commitment (there were practices every Mon-Fri from 7:00-8:30pm for about three weeks leading up to the festival), but it's really an awesome experience. In terms of things in Towada I've participated in, taiko for Aki Matsuri for the past three years is definitely my #1 memory.

Apart from playing the taiko, the party afterward is always a lot of fun. The taiko group people are all great people and fun to talk with. It's also a good chance to talk with some other city hall staff from different sections. Since the taiko group didn't have a performance at the party and had to leave early this year, I was able to spend quite a lot of time talking with the Kyoikucho (Superintendent of the Board of Education) and Muranaka-san. Thankfully my Japanese has improved enough that I can carry a basic conversation--although there were a number of times where I had to use English/couldn't answer properly.

(The taiko group had to leave early because there were performing in the main street during the festival. In previous years they performed on the Saturday evening on a float, but thanks to the rule change--no more engines, remember!--they couldn't do that and ended up performing Friday night instead. It was too bad because I always looked forward to their performance at the after party, but it worked out because I left the party in time to catch their last performance in the street.)

Any new ALTs who come into Towada next year really can't know what they're missing. But yeah, I'm glad that I at least got to do taiko for three years. (I heard there was even talk about canceling the Chibiko Koma Odori this year!)

Well, here's to three years of Aki Matsuri taiko! Hopefully they'll find something else for ALTs to join in Aki Matsuri.

First year we all wore the hanten (half coat) (This photo was taken on Allie's camera).






Second year the girls wore the same yukata as the other city hall staff.












This year the girls had the option of wearing hanten or our own yukata. You can probably tell this isn't an ALT photo. (I didn't take one, so I'll have to wait for Kristina to post it on Facebook for me to steal. =P ) The lady on the left is a member of the taiko group as well as a teacher at one of the elementary schools I visit occasionally. The man in the middle is the head of the taiko group. (Also, I'm not wearing it in the picture, but I wore the same "headband" all three years!)









Finally, this has nothing to do with Aki Matsuri, but I forgot to post before about my trip to Goshogowara with the Kirita PTA on August 31st. It was a lot of fun! You can see my photos in my Facebook album here (this year's trip starts from page 2 of the album): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151491&id=655150561&l=a57f1a5433

Wake me up when September ends

My month so far:

9/1 (Tue)
- Kirita JHS 9:00-17:15
- banking 17:25-17:30
- Global Drums Perfomance @ Bunka Center 17:30-20:30 *unexpectedly awesome
- Japanese dance practice 20:30-21:00
- grocery shopping 21:15-22:00

9/2 (Wed)
- Shimokirida ES 8:45-13:15
- Kirita JHS 13:25-17:55
- pick up E. 16:10
- Global Drums Reception @ Board of Trade & Commerce 16:30-21:00 *made new friends!! <3
- proofreading Hotaru no Hikari v5 ch28 21:30-22:30

9/3 (Thu)
- Kirita JHS 9:00-17:45
- proofreading Hotaru no Hikari v5 ch28 18:00-18:45
- taiko practice @ Chuo Community Center 19:00-20:30
- proofreading Hotaru no Hikari v5 ch28 21:00-23:30 *finally finished!!

9/5 (Fri)
- Ofukanai JHS 9:00-14:45
- office 15:15-16:00
- Daiichi JHS 16:15-17:00
- office/banking 17:00-17:15
- Baskin Robbins & checking for car fair @ Jusco (it's on this weekend, so perfect timing!) 17:45-18:00
- Japanese dance practice @ Bunka Center 18:30-20:00
- taiko practice 20:00-20:30

My upcoming plans:

9/6 (Sat)
- car shopping w/ K @ Jusco 10:00 ~ ?
- driving to Lake Towada 12:00-13:30
- Lake Towada Border Festival (Kirita JHS students performing!) 13:30-15:30
- Horanai ES Festival 17:00-18:30 *I want to go since the students invited me today, but I'm not killing myself to get back from Lake Towada in time for it...
- E's Japanese dance practice @ Bunka Center 19:00-20:00

9/7 (Sun)
- taiko rehearsal @ Chuo Community Center 9:30-11:00
- lesson/material preparations 12:00-15:00
- driving to Lake Towada 15:30-17:00
- Lake Towada Border Festival (D from Akita performing!) 17:00-21:30

9/8-9/10 (Mon-Thu)
- taiko practice @ Chuo Community Center 19:00-20:30

9/11 (Fri)
- Towada Aki Matsuri!! 11:00~

9/12 (Sat)
- Aomori Welcome Party 17:00~
OR
- Towada Aki Matsuri 17:30-20:30 *leaning towards this simply because I'm too tired right now to socialize with lots of people...

9/18 (Fri)
- Towada Board of Education Bowling 18:00~

9/19 (Sat)
- Kamikita Fall JHS Sports Meet 7:00 (?) ~ *This one's a big question mark...
9/20 (Sun)
- Kirita Shrine Festival 15:00 (?) ~

9/23 (Wed)
- Japanese dance rehearsal @ Bunka Center

And of course on top of all this I still have regular eikaiwa classes and Japanese dance practices--probably more than usual since it's the last month before the big performance. @_@

Then I've got the big performance at the beginning of October, followed by my brother's visit to Japan (assuming he ever gets his plane tickets purchased!), and the Kirita Culture Festival.

So pretty much I'm not going to have a chance to come up for air until November--at which point I expect to promptly catch bronchitis for the 8th (9th?) time. =_=