When I travel, I try to spend less money on souvenirs and more money on food. Why? Because I like food. For you Japanese-studiers, I have been called a 食いしん坊. Not sure how negative the nuance is, but my dictionary says, 'big eater', so I can't really disagree.
My Sapporo food-highlights are:
Genghis-Khan - Lamb and vegetables cooked yakiniku-style. Goes great with beer. Apparently it's named after some Mongolian.
Hairy Crab - or kegani, was my favorite. I was expecting the hairs to be prickly, but they were very soft.
Miso Ramen - People don't eat much ramen in Okinawa, so I took the opportunity to eat a lot of it while I was here.
Fish Sex Organs - or tachi-pon, is...fish sex organs (白子) in a ponzu sauce.
Oysters - I had oysters once in high school and hated them. Then we ordered huge grilled ones, and they were excellent.
Ika-somen - or raw squid cut up in noodle-like strips. This was served with a whole squid next to it. The waiter asked how we wanted it prepared, and that was when we noticed that it was still alive because the tentacles were moving. We went with tempura.
I have a new mode of transportation: a Kawasaki ZRX 400.
It is mandatory to go to bike school before getting your bike license in Japan. The school cost me a lot of money and took about two months to complete. I got my license last June. Fast forward 9 months later and I finally bought a bike.
I was worried I might have forgotten how to ride, but as I pulled off into heavy traffic and rode the two hours back to Ogimi, I felt completely in control and realized the money I had spent on classes had been worth it. Not only did I remember how to ride, but I felt safe doing so.
While enjoying my new toy, I sometimes think just how sucky it would be to lose control, roll along the road at 80 kph, then get run over by a car.
But I try not to think about that too much.
I teach a small English class of six kids every Tuesday night at the Yamakawa house. Karen, the eldest who is about to be an 8th grader, also does karate at the same dojo as me. She qualified a couple of months ago to go to the 4th Annual Hamanasu All Japan Junior High School Karate Elimination Tournament (whew!) in Sapporo, Hokkaido. I had not been to Hokkaido before, and neither had Vaughn, so we both jumped at the excuse to take a trip up north.
(it's colder in Hokkaido than in Okinawa)We arrived Friday night and the schedule for everybody was:
Saturday - practice
Sunday - tournament
Monday - tournament
Tuesday - go home
Looking at the schedule and not seeing a lot of (or any!) free time, Vaughn and I revised the schedule a little bit to:
Saturday - hot spring
Sunday - tournament (to see Karen!)
Monday - beer and chocolate factory
Tuesday - go home
Happy with our schedule, we sat back and relaxed as the tour guides did all the plane ticket and hotel reservations for us.
(view from our hotel room)I was looking forward to doing the hot spring because I wanted to walk outside naked in -3℃ (26.6°F) weather and have it be culturally accepted. Mission accomplished. +1 XP.
The beer and chocolate factory were exactly what I expected them to be. At the end of the beer tour, we were allowed to 'sample' up to three glasses of Sapporo Classic within a 20 minute time-frame. Vaughn and I met this challenge, but I ran into a little trouble on the train ride back. We were waiting on the platform for the rapid train to arrive and after those three beers, I really had to use the bathroom. Seeing that I had only a minute before the train arrived and knowing that I wouldn't have a chance to go to the bathroom for another 20 minutes, I ran to the end of the platform, which was deserted, and went off the ledge. Not exactly classy, but if a tree falls in a forrest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?
But then I heard the train arriving...and I was still going (3 beers!). The train pulls up right next to me, and I hang my head like an ostrich thinking they can't see me if I can't see them. Then the train pulled away with all the passenger cars going past me...and I realized I missed my train. Vaughn told me later that as the train pulled away, the conductor announced that there was a toilet in the 3rd car.
All the vacationing aside, the purpose of our trip was to see Karen compete against 122 other 7th grade girls from all over Japan in kata.
How did she do? First place! She was the only one from Okinawa to place in anything. Vaughn later commented, 'I was never a #1 All-American anything...'
Now if she would only do her English homework...
(it says she won)