Back From Sendai!

I'm back from Sendai! I got my multiple re-entry permit (sai nyuukoku kyoka) so I can come and go from Japan as many times as I wish. I made a reservation at a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) on Saturday and left around 1:45 PM from Nagai station and headed to nearby Akaya where I got the bullet train to Fukushima. I got on another bullet train in Fukushima and arrived in Sendai at about 4ish. I spent about 4500 yen on the trip there. It was expensive but worth it just to ride the bullet train (shinkansen) for the first time. For the first leg of the trip I didn't have a place to sit, so I just sat on the floor in between two cabins since I just got a "non-reserve ticket" and it was a full train. But on the second leg there was plenty of space and I got awesome views of the area. The mountains covered in gorgeous forests pelted by the summer rain is really a sight to see in Japan. Awesome cloud formations would hover over the mountains creating a really cool looking ancient effect. Everytime I get in my car and drive around Nagai or through the mountains to Yamagata City, I think how ridiculous it is I get to live in such a beautiful place, but this really was something special.

In Sendai I stayed at a youth hostel/ryokan which was super cool. It was only about 50 bucks for one night (without food) but it was fun to relax in a traditional Japanese environment. I put on a yukata and took a bath around 6:00. The water was brutally hot at first but after I soaked in it for a bit I really felt the hot water relax my whole body. Then I went out to a local jazz concert. Even though the weather was absolute shit (raining cats and dogs) it was still worth it to see everything. They also had a sweet breakdancing/funk dance competition. So I stood in the rain with hundreds of other Japanese people and ate fried octopus balls on a stick and heard amazing live funk/jazz bands for free. I got dinner at a local restaurant and made sure to eat my fill. Best Sunday night in a while! I took Monday off too since I had enough overtime hours to use as a day off in addition to my yearly 20 days of paid leave.

I realized how hard it is to find breakfast places in Japan, so I found this fast-food Japanese cuisine place where you literally just buy cold food and microwave it in the corner. Very unsatisfying and made me want to open a pancake house in Tohoku to show Japanese people how great Western breakfasts are. Afterwards I headed to the Regional Immigration Bureau using my car GPS (I just took it with me so I wouldn't need to figure out maps). As I was walking into the office, I ran into Alex, Jema, and Mel (a CIR and two ALTs from nearby Yonezawa). Apparently they had taken the day off to do the same thing I did. Alex is going to Korea next week to visit his ex-girlfriend and the three of them are taking a trip to India this winter (I so want to do that). They helped me fill out the application which was pretty easy and took about 5 minutes once I had everything. Afterwards we went for Indian food which was amazing and just talked for a long time in the restaurant. After that the three were in the mood for some shopping and even though I wanted to visit Matsushima, I was more comfortable hanging out with my friends and just thought I'd hang out with them. Maybe I should have gone...I watched them try on clothes for the longest time at Uniqlo and some high class designer places. Japanese clothes don't fit me in general, I'm way too tall and lean at the same time. I did manage to find some clothes that fit me, but it was like $300 for a pair of jeans with holes in them (Abercrombie-style). I didn't want to be rude to the store attendants, so I just told them I couldn't afford anything today and that I would come back to Sendai when I had more money. Yeah right.

I looked at some furniture at a store similar to Ikea (I need a new couch for my living room since I currently have what appears to be wooden torture chairs with fabric stretched over them.) Apparently I can order the stuff to Yamagata for only about $26. But since we have some furniture stores in the area, I thought I'd check them out first.

On the way back, I just took the bus with the two girls as Alex decided to stay in Sendai longer. It was way cheaper to take the bus (only about $19 each way) so I'll make it a point to do that from now on. Unfortunately when I got back to Yonezawa I realized that the last train for Nagai had already departed so I had to take a Taxi home. It cost about $80 and that was because the driver felt bad charging me more for a single ride so he stopped counting the meter. But he was a super nice guy and told me that he often has foreigners stay at his house (sometimes missionaries studying Japanese and sometimes students doing foreign exchanges in Japan). I can't get over how nice the people are here, even if they can be a little prone to staring at me sometimes. My students also like to rummage through my grocery basket at the supermarket as well and sometimes I wish I could just tell them to get their hands off my shit. Oh well.

Tomorrow I am at Nagai Elementary and the kids are learning about different country's flags and learning to say/ask "what country are you going to?" hopefully it will be pretty straightforward as I'm teaching all 5th graders. Anyways, I am going to make a late dinner and hit the sack!