Day 27: Eventful Saturday
All of us at Yamanoie went to bed so early last night, that I didn't need an alarm clock to wake up at 5:30am. The kids woke up at six, so that gave me some time to shower and write in my journal. I took a short walk down the road to look at all of the rice fields in the valley. The morning sun was shining bright and all but the water rolling through the stream below was quiet.
Everyone gathered outside for morning exercises. The Japanese like to do morning exercises. There are several radio broadcasts each morning that people can tune in to and exercise with. We used a tape recording of a radio show for some fun stretches. I have heard that some Japanese companies and schools even have their workers or students do exercise routines together; try getting Americans to cooperate in such an activity!
Breakfast was not bad today: croissants, bananas, milk, fish sausages, and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden outside. The sausages were made of some sort of fish. They didn't taste too bad, but the texture was very strange. After breakfast I was lucky enough to catch a few minutes of the 2006 US Open on the television in the teachers' room. Tiger Woods golfed horribly and did not even make the cut! Phil Mickleson was in second place with an even par. Watching golf and other simple things that feel a bit more like home is always a nice experience.
The students were evaluated on the presentation of the craft items that they constructed yesterday. Of course, I also shared my bamboo napkin holder, but napkins themselves are foreign to the students. Looking at their work it is easy to see that the students are very creative. Each student was also required to write about their creation and give themselves grades for the activities at Yamanoie. I think they all did a great job. I can't wait to go back to Yamanoie again in two weeks.
When I arrived back to the Pieczulewski's house a little after noon, they were all ready to go to Otsu for a company barbecue. I was happy to go with, since grilling outside is definitely an activity that I am used to doing in the summer back home. This time, though, we would be grilling on the shore of Lake Biwa! Unfortunately for us, the weather decided not to cooperate. I was lucky not to get stuck in the rain at Yamanoie, but the rain eventually rolled in today. The crowd at the park seemed indifferent to the weather. Charles Pieczulewski's co-workers just kept throwing food on the grill, despite the rain. Unlike grilling in Wisconsin, we didn't cook brats, burgers, chicken and hot dogs. The guys grilling made sausages, small marinated pieces of beef, cow tongue, okonomiyaki, and large shellfish. I tried a little bit of everything. All of the food was tasty, but the shellfish was very strange to me; they grilled the entire shell first, and then pulled the meat out of the shell, of which I only ate the muscle part.
After the rain became heavier, we all packed up and left the park. The Pieczulewski's and I went to a hot spring called Kurama Onsen. I had heard about these types of hot springs from my parents, who have experienced them before. The are, essentially, public baths: you shower, rinse, and then relax in the warm bath water. Charles and I sat in the indoor bath and sauna for a short time, before moving outside to the bath with a view.
The bath house is sitting on the side of a mountain in northern Kyoto. It was still raining lightly, making it even more interesting sitting in the hot tub outside; the water was hot, but the raindrops falling were cool and refreshing. On the opposing side of the narrow valley there was nothing but tall green pines. We just stared at that mountain slope in awe of its simple beauty. Light clouds drifting through the valley had to fight their way through the thick treetops. I wish I could have taken a picture, but taking a camera into a public bath is probably not a good idea.
After a long, relaxing soak in the hot baths, we all sat in the massage chairs near the locker rooms. They were full body massage chairs and felt pretty awesome. Sometimes it was a bit painful, but overall it felt great. We all left refreshed and relaxed, ready to go find some dinner and go home. Charles knows of a great okonomiyaki place, and okonomiyaki is always cool with me. This particular restaurant was pretty large, having an upstairs and a downstairs full of tables. We had some huge orders of different types of okonomiyaki. We even had a type with yaki soba noodles in it! Squid is also popular in okonomiyaki, so we had some of that as well. At home we watched Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It has been a while since I have seen a Star Wars movie, but I do love them. It was especially exciting watching on the Pieczulewski's widescreen television with a Bose surround sound system.
What a great day!
Everyone gathered outside for morning exercises. The Japanese like to do morning exercises. There are several radio broadcasts each morning that people can tune in to and exercise with. We used a tape recording of a radio show for some fun stretches. I have heard that some Japanese companies and schools even have their workers or students do exercise routines together; try getting Americans to cooperate in such an activity!
Breakfast was not bad today: croissants, bananas, milk, fish sausages, and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden outside. The sausages were made of some sort of fish. They didn't taste too bad, but the texture was very strange. After breakfast I was lucky enough to catch a few minutes of the 2006 US Open on the television in the teachers' room. Tiger Woods golfed horribly and did not even make the cut! Phil Mickleson was in second place with an even par. Watching golf and other simple things that feel a bit more like home is always a nice experience.The students were evaluated on the presentation of the craft items that they constructed yesterday. Of course, I also shared my bamboo napkin holder, but napkins themselves are foreign to the students. Looking at their work it is easy to see that the students are very creative. Each student was also required to write about their creation and give themselves grades for the activities at Yamanoie. I think they all did a great job. I can't wait to go back to Yamanoie again in two weeks.
When I arrived back to the Pieczulewski's house a little after noon, they were all ready to go to Otsu for a company barbecue. I was happy to go with, since grilling outside is definitely an activity that I am used to doing in the summer back home. This time, though, we would be grilling on the shore of Lake Biwa! Unfortunately for us, the weather decided not to cooperate. I was lucky not to get stuck in the rain at Yamanoie, but the rain eventually rolled in today. The crowd at the park seemed indifferent to the weather. Charles Pieczulewski's co-workers just kept throwing food on the grill, despite the rain. Unlike grilling in Wisconsin, we didn't cook brats, burgers, chicken and hot dogs. The guys grilling made sausages, small marinated pieces of beef, cow tongue, okonomiyaki, and large shellfish. I tried a little bit of everything. All of the food was tasty, but the shellfish was very strange to me; they grilled the entire shell first, and then pulled the meat out of the shell, of which I only ate the muscle part.After the rain became heavier, we all packed up and left the park. The Pieczulewski's and I went to a hot spring called Kurama Onsen. I had heard about these types of hot springs from my parents, who have experienced them before. The are, essentially, public baths: you shower, rinse, and then relax in the warm bath water. Charles and I sat in the indoor bath and sauna for a short time, before moving outside to the bath with a view.
The bath house is sitting on the side of a mountain in northern Kyoto. It was still raining lightly, making it even more interesting sitting in the hot tub outside; the water was hot, but the raindrops falling were cool and refreshing. On the opposing side of the narrow valley there was nothing but tall green pines. We just stared at that mountain slope in awe of its simple beauty. Light clouds drifting through the valley had to fight their way through the thick treetops. I wish I could have taken a picture, but taking a camera into a public bath is probably not a good idea.
After a long, relaxing soak in the hot baths, we all sat in the massage chairs near the locker rooms. They were full body massage chairs and felt pretty awesome. Sometimes it was a bit painful, but overall it felt great. We all left refreshed and relaxed, ready to go find some dinner and go home. Charles knows of a great okonomiyaki place, and okonomiyaki is always cool with me. This particular restaurant was pretty large, having an upstairs and a downstairs full of tables. We had some huge orders of different types of okonomiyaki. We even had a type with yaki soba noodles in it! Squid is also popular in okonomiyaki, so we had some of that as well. At home we watched Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It has been a while since I have seen a Star Wars movie, but I do love them. It was especially exciting watching on the Pieczulewski's widescreen television with a Bose surround sound system.What a great day!
posted by Ryan Harkins at 1:36 p.m.
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