Hanabi

As I posted before, I had a late night on Friday. As one of my co-workers was leaving, she mentioned that there would be a number of fireworks events that coming weekend. Fireworks had been totally off my radar, and with everything else on my plate, knowing that they were about to get under way still didn't motivate me much.

Russell had band practice Sunday night, so I was doubly prepared to just chill at home and maybe get some cleaning done before I travel home. Russell was opposed to that idea, though. He felt it was unacceptable that I spend the evening alone when there were fun things happening in the city. He suggested I call some friends.

I have friends from work, but I was all jumped up over work that day and kind of wanted to get away as much as possible - even though I love my co-workers. Outside of them, the pickins are pretty slim in the friends category. As in, two. And neither of them ever do anything spur of the moment. One must book ahead. I thought it over, though and decided to email Keiko. I figured she was already probably planning to go to the fireworks and maybe I could tag along.

As luck would have it, that was just how it worked out. I felt bad horning in on her night out with friends, but her friends had both studied with her in Canada, so they were sympathetic to a lonely foreigner. I met them at the train station, had dinner, and we headed to the water front.

Last year, we thought we would be clever and picked a spot out by my school on Port Island. It wasn't in the middle of the action, but it seemed like it would have a good view and might be far enough away that others wouldn't venture there. No such luck. It was very crowded and getting home was difficult.

This time, we decided to throw caution to the wind and go where EVERYONE goes - to Harborland! Harborland is the waterfront park area with all the tourist attractions and landmarks that make up Kobe's skyline. I was expecting a serious scene, but we headed off to a less well marked corner where the crowd was still thin. Of course, we went a couple hours early to stake out a spot, but when we got there we had our pick of sidewalk to sit on and there was a beautiful view of the harbor. The crowd filled in around us, but it never got tight. No one was stepping on us or walking through our group. The crowd was pretty loose and there was room to spread your legs. It was nice.

We had a nice conversation (the whole evening was in Japanese with occasional words translated to English to help me understand or say something. I didn't understand a lot, but I did understand some. It was good practice and everyone was friendly.

I also learned something new! It turns out that the cue that the fireworks are about to begin in Kobe is when they turn off the multi-colored lights on the Ferris Wheel. Once the lights went out, anticipation started to build and pretty soon the show began. It lasted 20-30 minutes with a few pauses in the middle. At one point, after a less than climactic burst everything stopped. We waited, assuming it was another pause. The pause got longer and longer. After about 5 minutes, a number of people decided that we had, in fact, reached the end. They packed up and started to head out. Most of the crowd was die-hard, though. They were sure there would be more. Another minute or two passed. We looked around at each other, agreed that that must have really been the end, and started to shuffle into a standing position as well.

Of course, just then the show started back up again. We hastily sat back down and continued to enjoy the fireworks. The thing that always amazes me about fireworks in Japan is everyone seems to know the grand finale. When it came, everyone cheered and as one hit their feet and headed to the train. Within 30 second of the finale the lights on the Ferris Wheel came up again, so in case there was any doubt, we were all assured that we had, in fact, see the end.

We started heading toward the train with the crowd, but it was pretty clear that we would be waiting for hours to go anywhere. Instead, we made a quick decision to duck into a relatively empty Starbucks. We staked a claim to some comfy chairs (in Japan it is totally normal to just ditch your purse where you plan to sit and wander off to order - it will totally still be there when you get back). We got into line, ordered and were back in our over-stuffed arm chairs before the crowd started to realize that Starbucks was an option. A few minutes later, it was packed, but we were all set. We sat and chatted for another hour or two and then decided to try the trains. The crowd had thinned down to "busy, but not rush-hour busy" levels and we made our way home.

Its nice to have friends!

Buddha Cleaning

I just saw this video on the BBC. Russell and I often take visitors to see the giant Buddha in Todaiji Temple in Nara. Its one of my favorite places in the Kansai area.

I'm glad to know he gets dusted periodically.

End of the Semester (Mostly)

Thursday was the last day of regular tests at our school, so Spring semester (the first half of the school year in Japan) is now officially over. We still have a few make-up tests that need to be given and grading to do, but life is looking much rosier now.

To add a little gold touch to the rosiness, I also get a weekend this week! Last weekend I spent Saturday at school doing study abroad orientations with students and parents (I had to give two speeches in Japanese - yikes!) and Sunday we had Open Campus, so I spent the day talking to prospective students from local high schools.

Yesterday, (Friday) we didn't have tests, but we did have to compile a list of students that need to retake their finals (which meant some crazy fast grading for some of us). We also had a big party for the study abroad students who will be heading out over the next two weeks. They all gave speeches and then all the teachers gave speeches and we ate lots of snacks. It was fun. Knowing all the students this year made the experience really fun. I'm going to miss them!

The test retake list took longer to put together than expected. Russell had come in to work at the school, so he and I stayed late to help get the list to the front office. We got out about 7:30pm and headed straight to our neighborhood izakaya (bar/restaurant) for dinner and drinks. I was so tired that after dinner and a beer I was pretty much ready to fall asleep at the bar. Russell was pretty sure I needed a second drink though, so we had one more round and headed home. I don't remember much after that, but at some point Russell decided I should be sleeping in bed instead of on the floor.

This morning I woke up very happy. I am feeling more relaxed and well rested than I have in a long time. My plan for today is to do some cleaning, spend a few hours grading papers and drinking lots of coffee at a cafe and thinking about a certain flight on Thursday. Hooray!

A General Lack of Sleep

July was not good for restin' in this household. There were a variety of contributing factors to the general lack of sleep.

First, its hot out. This is not a huge problem, because we have an air conditioner and do generally keep it on at night. We don't put it on full blast, but we try to keep the place de-humidified at least. Covers, however, do not appeal. Somehow, sleeping in hot weather just isn't restful.

Next, it gets unpleasantly hot outside as soon as the sun is up. Since the sun starts comes up around 5am, the 5-6 slot is the most appealing for walking to work. Something I am still doing daily. Getting up that early is also not restful (but at least its my own damn fault).

The other night, we had our first summer guest. I woke up to the feel of a critter on my leg. When I jumped up, the black beast scuttled quickly to the wall and then circumvented the room looking for a hidey-hole. I woke Russell up but was still too asleep to explain what had happened. I started to think I had imagined the whole thing. Russell investigated, though, and verified the guest. We were no longer sleepy. Russell had a can of spray poison in hand faster than I would have thought possible. I was none too thrilled will spraying deadly chemicals all over our bed and pillows, so I tried to hold things out of the way while Russell sprayed as much of the toxins on the beast as he could. I still got the dubious honor of dealing the death blow and flushing our ex-friend.

So much for a roach free summer.

FInally, my own husband has begun working against my sleep schedule. He has always stayed awake later than me - I've come to accept that. Its not ideal for sleeping when the lights are on and someone is practicing guitar just on the other side of the bedroom door, but he tries to be quiet and I can tune most things out. Whats really getting me, though, is that Russell has become so accustomed to me being out of bed before the sun comes up, that if he wakes up and can actually see me still in bed, he's pretty sure I'm late for work. Even if its Saturday or Sunday. On Sunday this week, I did have to go to work for Open Campus, but I didn't have to be there until 10am. I had re-set my alarm so I could catch a few extra hours of sleep. I tried to explain this to a half-asleep Russell as he insisted I would be late, but he wasn't grasping the concept. After he had woken me up 3 times at 10 minute intervals, I finally just got out of bed to pacify him. So much for sleeping in.

Hopefully my fortunes are changing, though. Finals week is almost over and things should quiet down considerably once the students are gone. I should be able to relax and focus my attention on preparations for the Oregon trip. Ah, to have a light at the end of such a long, dark tunnel.