Run! Run! Run!

This weekend marked the most important event of the school year for many schools in Japan- the sports festival. The students and the teachers take part in a wide range of events that showcase no particular talent but that are huge fun for the students and their families, many of whom come to watch. Given my sports phobia I was expecting a long, long day (my memories of last year's are that it was looooong with some enjoyable moments- maybe this year knowing the kids made a difference). Anyway, I started the day the same was I start most weekends. With a hangover.

At our Japanese lesson on Thursday, Kapo-chan and I had decided to go for dinner and drinks on Friday and asked Christine along, so on Friday night we found Jeremy and Christine in Wakaba, had a tasty meal and headed off to Uenodan, Kapo-chan's sister's cafe which has just started opening late and serving alcohol. So we took advantage of this, Kapo-chan and I staying there until 1am (oops) and me cycling home in a rather wayward fashion. Via Lawson's of course...

Waking up on Saturday with a headache I decided it was best to view it as part of the cold I've had all week and headed off to school for 8:15 to join in with the sports day. Due to the threat of rain they seemed to speed through the races, and by 11 am it was time for lunch, of which we had the obligatory special bento box. Each time we have this it seems to get tastier even though it's always exactly the same- perhaps I am changing after all... All the teachers took part in a race, and many of us did 2- one was a race were 2 people ran together each with a tennis racket (with a hand shaped cover), between the rackets carrying a football. Very hard. And then there was the relay race. To my surprise (and I think to the student's surprise too) the teacher's teams came first in both their races. The day ended with closing ceremony where the flags that were raised in the morning (Japanese flag and school flag) to the sound of the Japanese national anthem were lowered to the same piece of music.

After this it was onto the enkai which was held in a traditional ryokan in Kuse (like a boarding house, but this had a massive dining area where all of us teachers ate). A delicious feast was laid before us and one by one all the teachers who started in April were asked to make a speech. And then to my surprise, so was I. In Japanese. D'oh. I blundered through and managed to say the correct greeting at the end and managed not to make the usual mistakes (2 weeks ago I asked for usagi instead of unagi at the revolving sushi restaurant. Which means I asked for rabbit instead of eel. A mistake I'll never make again...) The second enkai was held at the usual bar in Kuse and amazingly the bar owner remembered that I liked gin and tonic- I haven't been there since maybe April! And with my cold I croaked my way through a few songs on karaoke, only to be hugely impressed with the singing of my school nurse and the domestic science teacher, who also was very good at English (to my surprise).

Sunday was as the Lord intended- a day of rest. I went cycling for a while and then came home to make some bread. Not a bad attempt- tasted great hot, but definitely room for improvement. Oh what I'd give for an oven. And a live-in baker.

Today was adventure day- it was a holiday as the sports day fell on a saturday- so I undertook a very important mission. I got my Japanese driving license, thanks largely to Kapo-chan who drove me there and helped with a lot of translation (many questions such as what was the name of the centre where you got your license, how many lessons did you have, how much did you spend in total on lessons etc...) . I was very nervous about it all, but still was thanking God that being British I don't have to do a driving test. Anyway, I'm now at home planning trips with an old road atlas and thinking a new one might be better and maybe a car would be even better. Janice mark II, I'm coming to find you. Although I may have to call you Janisu maaku too because that would sound more Japanese.