Base Camp is up and on line

FINALLY

I HAVE INTERNET AT MY HOUSE*
*due to the lack of plumbing, central heating, and an actual bed, "my house" shall hereafter be referred to as "base camp"

I am alive and well, have internet, and now life is truly complete. Accessing the web from this insect infested hole (japan) has been quite a difficult process, but finally, I have succeeded. And I have DSL.

My iTunes Music Store, however, is now the Japan version. If I so desire, I can access all the J-pop and Pixar my heart could desire.

This week has been pretty lonely, but mostly because I've been kind of out of the ALT loop. Friday, I don't remember what I did, I think I cleaned a lot and then fell asleep. Saturday I hung out with the other Higashidoori ALT and then took off when he went out drinking, since the next day I had the...

CULTURAL FESTIVAL
which was kind of cool. At my main elementary school, as I've mentioned, there was a lot of preparation for this day. It counted as a work day, but all I did was hang out and watch plays and dances and stuff. It was pretty cool, each grade did their own play or dance or song or whatever, with an intermission and lots of shouting. They love yelling over here. It makes them genki.

I would've taken pictures to post here, but I think I can lose my job for that, so I won't. Maybe I'll email the Hokubu ones from the other day to folks, now that I cna do that without the principals looking over my shoulder.

Sunday night, post-festival, was another staff "drinking party" (principal's words, not mine). Technically, it was a farewell party for a transferring staff member and a woman going on maternal leave while also my technical WElcome party. We all had to give speeches, and I was made to give mine in Japanese, which went surprsingly well. Spent the rest of the night swilling beer and sake between conversations in some kind of Japanese/English creole. One guy said to me, "to learn Japanese, you need a Japanese girlfriend" and immediately one of the younger lady teachers interrupted: "how old are you???" which made me feel good about myself for a bit. Not that I didn't feel good anyway, after all that delicious sake (made locally, within the village... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm tasty)

So after the all-you-can-drink (nomitai) sushi place, it was on to the official "second party," a karaoke nomitai (if you haven't noticed, these things require a great deal of self-control). Some folks headed home at this point (at least one staggered there), but pretty much everyone kept going. I was made to open the evening with a wonderful rendition of "Let it be" with my fellow English teacher.

Needless to say, I spent a lot of Sunday indoors. These people love to drink, it's a big release (one of the few allowed, it seems, in Japanese culture) since nothing that happens at a drinking party is spoken of the next day. The other ALT and I noticed that the guy who you finally made a connection with at the drinking party is, the next time you see him, the same cold sensei he was before. At least now they know I speak a little Japanese.