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First million, first snow, first yakuza?December 2001
Hi folks,
I guess it's a nice feeling to know that my next pay check, due in a couple of days, will mark the earning of my first million in life. So what if it's in yen? :)
A somewhat less frivolous and infinitely more wondrous first came along last Friday morning. I woke up to see tiny particles blowing around outside my window and a light layer of white covering the nearby trees. My first snow! I got up, knocked back some yoghurt, changed quickly and headed outside to feel it on my face and see it close up. The flakes were small, but I caught one that was distinctly hexagonal for the brief moment before it melted in my hand. At elementary school that day, I often found myself just staring at the snow falling, especially as it became heavier. It's cold and wet and mushy underfoot, but watching it is beautiful. And I got to make my first snowballs with the kids after school.
I was even more amazed the next morning when I woke up to a classic snowscape. The cedars were weighted down with snow, everything was covered in white! I had to brush two inches of snow off my car with a broom. Local roads had snow tracks in them and the major route out of the valley had been cleared by council trucks. The locals didn't think much of it, but they got a laugh out of seeing me wide-eyed.
At lunch time I headed over to the east part of the valley to pick up a couple of American backpackers, who needed to get to the train station, and the other JET, Katy, whose little car couldn't make it up the hill because of the snow! With four wheel drive and snow tyres, no problems for the Pajero, but I still found myself having to make some significant adjustments for driving in new conditions. For example, though snow on the road isn't so bad to get through, bridges tend to be more icy and dangerous because convection currents above and below the platform make them cool faster. The road conditions vary between wet, mush, snow and ice. Suffice to say I learnt a lot in a morning's driving.
Dropping the American lads off in town, Katy and I kicked onto Kawanoe to hit the department stores for some serious shopping. Our first stop was Time, a super store with everything from stationery and house fittings to pets and Christmas decorations. After picking up a few odd things, we were approached at my car by a rather odd Japanese man. I didn't see where he came from, but he greeted me in bad English and proceeded to pull out a catalogue and point to the contents of the open page. Already surprised to have someone wander up to me randomly in a carpark, I could barely keep my jaw attached to my head when I realised the catalogue was for pistols and guns. This guy was trying to sell me a gun!
A few quick mutterings of, "Sumimasen-ga wakaranai" (sorry, but I don't understand) and "Nihongo-ga mada heta desu" (my Japanese is still bad), seemed to do the trick. He moved away slowly, saying some more things that I didn't understand between some more bad English, and we took the chance to say goodbye and get in the car and go. Was he yakuza or just some random dodgy guy? Why did he think I would want a gun? What the hell was that?! Certainly something to write home about. :)
Today is my last day at work for a couple of weeks. This weekend will see me in Kochi city, about an hour's drive to the south of me on the Pacific coast of Shikoku, with my fellow high school teachers, having what is called a "boonenkai" - year's end party. Kochi-shi is supposed to be the most popular party destination on Shikoku, so bring it on! It's the Emperor's birthday this weekend, too, so that gives us all a holiday on Monday. Christmas isn't a holiday in Japan, but I have some leave stored up, so I'm going to hit the road and see some sights until we all go back to school on January 7. I might even catch up with some mates in Osaka for the New Year. I'll be glad for the rest!
Of course, that means it'll be a while before I have any regular email access, so if you send me anything, please don't expect a reply before my return to school. Until then, my very best wishes of the season to you all!
Lots of love,
Dave