The Hidden Pool

It had been a long weekend, and she wouldn’t have minded simply taking the two day holiday as an opportunity to finally relax and explore the woods some more at her own leisure. And yet, despite her slug-like tendencies she was looking forward to being happily diverted for an afternoon’s excursion. She had been invited to afternoon luncheon and tea at a little restaurant tucked away in the countryside by a horse ranch. It was just her, her ever-helpful Japanese translator Y-san, and her friend M-san. Y-san had hoped for fine weather so they could visit the beautiful lake nearby, and was disappointed by the dreary skies. Thus, she was quite surprised when our traveler professed her felicity in such an overcast day on the verge of rain. The three sampled many fine dishes and delightful desserts at the restaurant, and decided to chance the weather and continue on to the lake just a twenty minutes’ drive away. A light rain began to fall as they wound their way up and through the mountain. The habitual chill in the morning and evening air had not yet been pervasive enough to tip the balance and begin the fall color metamorphosis. Still, the dusky greens amidst dark, water-soaked browns and greys were a welcome comfort in their own right. Their destination soon became visible opening up in the valley below. And so, as the rain had thinned to a mere dampness about the air, the trio set forth in admiration and exploration.

Look, Katie!

Fun with Macro-mode :D

M-san was fond of drawing and made quick, efficient lines compose with elegance the scene before them. Y-san, a published author and poet, took her time soaking in the information the inscriptions had to offer.

And as usual, our not-quite heroine made a study of how to pretend to be a photographer when one is given equipment far superior to her skill.

(reminiscent of this, no?)

When the rain began to pick up again it was decided they should begin the journey home (despite their fascination with her declaration that “Fall rains are the best rains!”). After a brief perusal of a shop nearby and two impromptu birthday-presents later, they were streaming through the mountains once more. Everything was delightful~

(oh, especially meeting this little guy on the way home) :

School Festival!!

Thought from places:

The girls synchronized their hairstyles, so that such-and-such class wore pigtails with locks free at their temples, and such-and-such class wore side-parts with single front braids and so on. This must have been an even bigger deal considering the girls usually wore their same signature hairstyle everyday. 

Everyone was gathered in the auditorium: the students in their neat lines of chairs, the parents behind them, and the staff floating around the sides. Student announcers stately held their color construction paper-backed announcement sheets and speeches. They students all mustered to the front, and in clear, triumphant voices sang (in German) Beethoven’s 9th in the dimmed lights. 

Plays were managed and performed by students with heavy topics such as the importance of being born and living despite the trials you would face in the world—that you need to grasp your future with your own two hands; the same hands used to play games, work hard, and say goodbye. Lighter fare was provided by the individual class skit portion; a sort of pseudo-talent show. Slapstick “Super ball” jokes, skill set presentations (like this), re-making Gatsby commercials (like this), “watching Ghibli movies” as giant soot sprites dance and winged-chairs race around the stage with occupants yelling “SHEETA!” Dance numbers with boys dressing in girls’ uniforms and performing girl-pop groups’ numbers, such as AKB48; dragging her and another young teacher on stage to join in dancing; and of course what talent segment would be complete without a psy appearance? 

The walls outside displayed art works and compositions:

Oh, Hi there, Murasaki Shikibu. You're crying while writing The Tale of Genji? Don't worry, your readers cry, too...

Cats in Abstract Land~

 Not biased at all...<3

Classes rallied together to practice choir compositions. Band kids shining in each solo, especially the French horns and saxophones that left her feeling a wistfully nostalgia for favorite French horn and saxophone players…

Finally, the unveiling of the class banners and mosiac made by all of the students.

http://youtu.be/ElJN6caX2G4

How they must have felt, as they charged out of the school together. Their arms held out in the descending sun (you would have thought it was half past seven, not a quarter past four…) half in and half out of their uniforms; joking about the gaffs they made and the laughs they got out of them, anyway. It seemed as though it were Spring and graduation was just a few weeks away—and yet it was only the end of September and they still had many months until March. That didn’t stop some of them from crying, clutching each other and struggling to straighten their faces for the final photographs parents were taking of them and the festival. They had a two day break to look forward to, at least, to spend with each other going to karaoke, playing video games, anything impulsive while they didn’t have to worry about deadlines. The bike racks clear in a matter of minutes, even as the last rays escaping the clouds stacked upon the mountain recede, and take their warm glow with them. 

Fall Festival

She was called at the junior high school and told to come back to the Board of Education early. The students didn't have class that afternoon since they were preparing for the school festival so she was easily dismissed. She was informed shortly after arriving that the Fall Festival (or 秋祭) was beginning that night and wouldn't she like to join them in going to listen to the students’ brass band performance? So the first day she tries wearing more casual clothes to school (to match the other teachers) she finds herself walking into the festival with her supervisor, her supervisor’s boss’s boss, and a man who shares his name with the town (and so she assumes is rather important). And they were, of course, all clad in black suits…

Unlike the carnivals or fairs back home that have single entity mobile food stands or fancy games, festivals here comprise of networks of pop-up awnings and local food sellers; tent after tent of yaki-niku, yaki-soba, tako-yaki, sweet potatoes, fresh seafood and much more being grilled, roasted, and assembled right before your eyes. Fresh produce and home-made goods were also for sale. There were tents filled with little pictures, masks, and toys for children to play simple games for. They walked around the perimeter of tents, greeting the shop-keepers and even being offered a free turn at a few of the games. She tried getting a water yoyo (which has a paper anchor for the hook and disintegrate faster than she thought) and capturing goldfish (which uses an ice cream cone consistency scooper that also falls apart faster than she thought…). She only caught two but the man running it gave her an extra~ Soon, it was time to sit and listen to the elementary school band. Her entourage was surprised to hear that she didn't play an instrument, and had never learned one in school. She could understand their bafflement when the elementary band started to play. Children only about ten to twelve years old sounding in harmony together—even performing solos without music in front of them! The junior high students came on next and were more astonishing still. She was thoroughly impressed and beamed at the students she had only known for a month, but felt so proud of (regardless of her non-involvement with their musical prowess). Her chaperones led her back to the office building after that and she thanked them thoroughly before returning home. It was getting dark soon and she had to find supplies of some sort for her new impromptu pets (all being named Ponyo, since fish are not her specialty…), and she wanted to return to the festival to try some food!

Yoyo and fish from the first adventure~

After running over to the hyaku-en shop (the equivalent to a much nicer dollar store) and getting basic fish pellets and a large bowl-

(with too big of an opening in hindsight…)

-she returned to the festival.

It was dark by this time but she bought some sweet potato wedges and began to wander. It didn't take long for her to be found by some of her students. Different groups came and went throughout the night, but they all seemed astonished and excited at her being there. Some were even holding hands as their friends teased them of being in “lovey-lovey”. She re-visited the goldfish and yoyo tents as well as the home produce corner to pick up a jar of real honey (a luxury, yes, but she believed it a worthy sacrifice in the name of supporting her local neighbors).

(She even got to watch one of her students be a pro at the yoyo game~)

(a video of this endeavor can be found here)
(the author really dislikes hearing her own voice....)

After she had made multiple circuits of the tents, she decided she didn’t want to make any of her students (or the rest of the townspeople, for that matter) feel obliged to talk to her. She stopped at the crepe stand (of course) and returned home with her spoils. 

A Quick Jaunt Through the Typhoon

They were going on an adventure! An adventure to Starbucks! The closest one being in Asahikawa nearly three hours away, with a typhoon blowing rainstorms their way all day, but they would not be way-laid from their quest. She rode to the 7/11 on her bike and bought a yogurt drink and a pizza bun for second breakfast as she waited the few minutes before Hilary and Courtney arrived at 9:40. Her friends lived about twenty minutes away in Shikaoi, but they met at the TIEC camping weekend. Once our adventurer was in the car, they told her of the various pit-stops they thought they’d make along the way. 

The mist rolling down the mountain made it look like something out of Silent Hill...

Seriously.

One such pit stop was in Furano, a town to the north famous for its beautiful gardens and especially lavender. They ate delicious lavender soft cream (much better than the American soft serve as real, delicious, fat-filled Tokachi milk was used) and wandered the gardens in a steady rain. 

(picture courtesy of Courtney)

(picture courtesy of Hilary)

(picture courtesy of Hilary)

Their next stop was Ramen Village on the outskirts of Asahikawa. It wasn't a real village, but it was a delicious concentration of ramen shops all in one place (the ramen in Hokkaido is different than that in Honshu and the other islands). 

(picture courtesy of Courtney)

Their next pit stop was the Asahikawa zoo, a lovely place set in the mountain side with sprawling habitats and observation bubbles. Unfortunately, they arrived just an hour before it closed (at 5pm) and had weren't able to make it to all of the animals (but they made it just in time for the best part~). 

The king of the swingers...

they posed the same way...

And yes, seeing a raccoon in a zoo warranted a picture!

Stalkers... the lot of them...

"I was a very bad penguin....." or "I see no point in living if I can't be beautiful..."

Penguin Tunnel!!

FOR THE COMMON GOOD

I call this one "Blue Steel"

"Fierce Animals" (picture courtesy of Courtney)

Wolf Pod Wolf Pod Wolf Pod x3

And look what was right next door...

"Our neighbors act like a pack of wild animals..."

Feeling satisfied at their success, they travelers continued on to their final destination: Starbucks. Now, she’s not a huge fan of coffee, and it irks her to pay for over-priced tea bags, and she generally avoids SB in favor of smaller shops (her favorite being the Jackson Coffee Company that actually serves loose-leaf tea and has a delightful 2nd story reading room; a nice place to get away from all the traffic in your life), AND when she does make it to SB she always orders a matcha latte (which is a specialty for her in America but a bit redundant when she can get it at the conbini while in Japan), so she could say with confidence it was not the destination, but the journey that made it worthwhile. Nonetheless, she ordered her chai latte and enjoyed it in her new travel mug (the drink was actually free since the mug was bought at the same time :3) as they walked to the clothing sections in search of pants. (Well, after stopping in the arcade to take more pictures!) 

(picture courtesy of Courtney)

(picture courtesy of Courtney)

After many failed attempts (mainly comprising of high wasted cropped nightmares) she let Hillary dress her in a sweater and skirt combo and called it good (evidently having a small hip-to-waist ratio makes it impossible to find pants in a straight-framed Japanese world ><;; ). They stopped at a few other clothing stores (including The Gap, but she knew that was doomed from the start) but eventually she gave up. After perusing the imports store (with Classico pasta sauce, Twinings tea, and Campbell’s Mushroom soup!), they decided it was getting late and the three hour drive back she be taken underway soon. A quick pass through the food court relieved our travel’s hunger with truly strange and foreign fare: McDonald’s fillet-o-fish. The drive back didn't feel very long, filled as it was with fun stories and revelations of their childhoods (in true road-trip fashion). It was decided that she should weather the night at their house so they could more easily continue the fun the following day. They watched the BBC’s Emma mini-series (and laugh-cried with joy at the ending), made and ate delicious lasagna (which made her want to weep for joy at the taste), and then made their way to the onsen. It was her first time and she was very nervous-excited, but her new friends made her feel at ease. Sitting in the natural hot-spring bath outside in the dark with the rain steadily falling is truly a recommendable experience. After enjoying a delicious fruit parfait (and being warmly greeted by the group of older men finishing their drinks…) her friends escorted her home. A truly fine adventure, indeed.