Life in Matsuyama

It’s all good.

Finances:
Funny thing. I have been going to the wrong ATM for a month and a half. My bank is Himegin, Ehime Bank, not Ehime Ginko Blah, Aishin. Oh well. At least now I know. So I was able to do the Lloyd’s Transfer to my Bank of America account. It was awesome. I distributed it to the various lenders, etc, and gave mom the rest since she’s been sending me all these heavy care packages.

I’ll attempt to draw up my first budget in November. That should be interesting. Never even had a chance to do that since I’ve never had steady income. I wonder what I can truly afford to do. These past two weeks have been heavy spending for me, preparing for b-day and recently not wanting to ride my bike up the mountain at 3 and 4 in the morning, and yet I still have over half of a paycheck left. I dunno. Maybe it’s the Small in me, feeling guilty when I really don’t have a reason to.

Love Relationships:
Nabe rocks my world.

I think about him far too often. I don’t even know why I chose him. That night, I was just pissed because Lance dissed me (and continues to do so, but at this point, I don’t care) and I was looking for someone to flirt with. Not the best way to begin a relationship, but again, I don’t think I care. Still, I am thoroughly infatuated. We went out Thursday and both had a good time, but at the end, we had to have one of those serious conversations. I don’t know. I think Nabe thinks dating me would be as hazardous to his health as I think dating him would be for mine… Gah, anyways, don’t want to get too serious in this entry. Just hoping for the best at this point.

But I am also meeting other language teachers in the area and having a good time. I’ve never had such a social social life. It’s crazy. Two nights a week should be sufficient, though, right? My head and aching muscles thinks so. I met a guy named Gabe from Rock Hill. Crazy.

I wish the other Okudogo JETs (Okudogans) went out as often as I do. It’s so lonely up here, despite having 7 other people in the building, now that Debra has moved into town. I almost feel like following her. That’s why I dread staying here in the winter. Winter is traditionally the most depressing season (although for me, emotionally, it’s been spring). Anyways, Nabe is also part of that plan. I just want someone to spend time with because there’s nothing worse than being lonely in a foreign country. There can’t be.

Work:
Fine. Great.

Monthly meeting Thursday at BOE. I was on time of course, but who cares, because it still started late. ~_~

Saki didn’t win, but she says she feels good about herself.

Thursday was Art Festival. The students all went to different areas of Matsuyama to draw and paint still life. I went to Dogo Koen (Park) with the 3rd years. We had a good time. It was during this that one of the students was seriously macking on me. Ryuya Nakano, 15, into baseball. He’s certainly a cute little thing, but sadly, we’ve met…er…7 years too soon. I probably shouldn’t have punched him so hard (we were sparing!) and let him feel my bicep. ~_~ That could be encouraging.

I went around and greeted and looked at all the students’ pictures. I love it when I sneak up on them and they turn around and practically scream. I think the boys (I mostly hung out with them) were impressed that I like to crawl around in the dirt and go exactly where I shouldn’t be going, much less endorsing/allowing them going. I always like messing with the boys anyways, because they’re so frightened and in awe of the fact that people *like me* exist. I’m not only American/English speaking, but I’m a woman with a bodacious body and dark skin. It’s visual overload. The girls are more inclined to approach me, so that’s why I make an extra effort to communicate with the guys.

Also, I’ve learned from talking to fellow English instructors that I truly have the best gaijin job in Japan. I dread the last day of being a JET. Honestly, what if I enter a situation where I REALLY want to stay longer? There is no other job in Japan as fantastic as JET – the free time/money ratio is incredible. The only other job I can imagine doing and having half as much fun is some kind of night worker or possibly working part time for some large corporation.

Domestics:
So I’ve scheduled bulky trash pick-up. I’m getting rid of:
- both couches
- rug*
- stereo*
- desk*

The * means I might be able to sell/pawn the items, especially the rug and desk. They’re both in fine condition, just ugly and bulky as hell and I hate them. The stereo doesn’t play-back CDs very well, so I dunno. Replacing the items won’t be too horrible. Grand Fuji or Hard Off (yes, it’s called Hard Off – ?!) have what I need. Also may buy a nicer TV. I also MUST get rid of these curtains. They’re gross.

I also want an mp3 player – bad. Just 1 MB should be sufficient for me, rotate the songs.

I know for one thing, I need a way to organize all the papers and documents I get every week. There’s just junk all over the place. I hate living like a pig, but I’m just always running around, doing something else other than taking care of my place. *sigh*

Friday was an Autumn Festival in Matsuyama. It’s a holiday for students only, so as an ALT, I could have 1) gone into school and been bored, 2) taken a day of paid leave or 3) participated in the festivities as a civil servant. I chose the later and got up at 6am. Went down to the Suemachi community center, put on my happi coat and toted the relatively small community shrine (mikoshi examples: http://www9.wind.ne.jp/tad1/tad/mikoshi.jpg, http://www.hogehoge.net/sakichi2/archives/mikoshi-L.gif) around town, chanting ‘wasuai’ and drinking Asahi beer from 9am to 9pm. Seriously, all day long. It was fun, though. I had to take a break, though, for a few hours. I came home, took a nap and then put on my yukata for the last time this year (must buy a fall/winter kimono at this point – important to be seasonal in traditional wear) to wear to the community all you can eat and drink party (enkai) at 6pm. It was great fun partying with the people, and meeting more good-looking young men (who are OF AGE).

The important/interesting aspect of this Festival is what happens in the morning. Many of the ALTs went to Dogo Onsen station to watch the Mikoshi Fights, which is just a bunch of neighborhoods in the form of teams, ramming their own shrines into each other with ferocity, and apparently on the sidelines, random fights break out. Maybe photos later. I watched it on TV and it did look pretty interesting. But I saw it Wednesday night because one of my students invited me to a preliminary fight. It was good. I dunno – I may check it out next year. Craziness.