Birthday weekend report...

Dear Gramma,
I am doing well out here in the small town of Shichinohe. How are you? 
I hope you're doing great. I miss you a whole bunch.
I first wanted to thank you very *very* much for the generous birthday present. I put it to good use during my birthday weekend! It happened to be a long weekend in Japan, as well as Canada, so my birthday was a holiday here, too. I like to think of it being a holiday in those countries cuz it’s my birthday and I’m just that special.


Friday, October 11th

"The Magma"

It was a usual work day where I had a visit at Kamikita (kah-mee-key-tah) JHS. I eat school lunches when I had visitation, and I think part of the reason why I love going to this school so much is because, more often than not, it’s Japanese Curry and Rice for lunch. Yummy!

After work, I went home, had a quick shower and packed my bag for my weekend of adventure down in Akita (ah-key-ta) prefecture. My fellow Winnipeg JETs, Mel and Jeff, live together in the city of Odate (oh-dah-tay). It took me about 3.5 hours to get down there, so it was pretty late when we went out for dinner, but the ramen noodles (giant bowl of Chinese-style-noodles with meat or veggies served in various types of broth)  were all the more delicious for the wait. We spent the rest of the night catching up and playing video games. It was great. We both have video game systems from at least 15 years ago, so it was just silly fun.

Saturday, October 12th

We got up at a decent time and Mel made us cheese omelets for breakfast. I don’t know why, but generally speaking the only cheese that I can find is mozzarella or goudah… or sometimes a combination of the two. One time I bought cheddar when I found it, but it was about $5 for 150 g. I almost cried. But I really needed it for the perogies I was making. Another strange thing I have noticed while being out here, is that Japan doesn’t have any restaurants that are open at breakfast. Even down in Tokyo, there are only Starbucks and bakeries, that you can get food before 10:30 am. So, you can imagine how excited I was to be eating a hot breakfast that I didn’t cook.

We went to the nearby town of Kosaka to watch a performance in a 100 year old kabuki theater. Thankfully, the ‘kabuki-like’ play was just the first half of the performance, as it was hard for us to understand what was going on, but we think we got the gist of it. After intermission, there were several different songs and dances, Jeff was pulled up to participate in a fight scene and there was even a couple of taiko drumming… er… tunes(?) performed. The costumes were great and the actors were wonderful. I think it was a community theater troupe, because it wasn’t very expensive, but they were an extremely talented group. There was an old mining office-cum-museum next door, so we went there afterwards. There were some really neat old tools on display, however the dress up portion was closed for the day. Perhaps next time. Haha. 

We then went back to Odate and had dinner at a tonkatsu (tone-kah-tsu) restaurant (breaded pork cutlet. SO GOOD) in preparation for our evening of karaoke. I’m not sure if I’ve ever explained what a karaoke box is like, but you rent a room for a set time (and usually do ‘nomihodai’ [noh-mee-ho-die] aka unlimited drinks from a set menu) and sing your heart out in front of your own private group. Well, we got there at about 19:00 and the deal was, for 3700 yen (about $40) you get the room and unlimited booze until 4:00. I don’t know what time I passed out, but it was a lot of fun… from what I remember. Hee hee. Jeff said at one point that both he and I were sleeping, and when he woke up, Mel was still singing all by herself and had a bunch of songs cued up. Too funny.

Sunday, October 13th

Naturally we slept in after our night out.

We headed to the kiritanpo (kee-ree-tan-poh) festival, and I was thankful that kiritanpo in soup is good hangover food. Haha. Here’s the Wikipedia definition of kiritanpo: 

“Kiritanpo (きりたんぽ) is a Japanese dish particularly in Akita Prefecture. Freshly cooked rice is pounded until somewhat mashed, then formed into cylinders around Japanese cedar skewers, and toasted over an open hearth. It can then be served with sweet miso or used as dumplings in soups.”

There were performances on a big stage at one end of the Odate Jukai Dome (the largest wooden structure in Japan, I believe), and lots of different food stands. We saw one for kiritanpo ramen which we thought was a bit too carbohydrate-heavy for our liking, so we stuck with soup. We bought some butter mochi (sooooo delicious and sweet! I brought mochi with me to the cabin when I visited in June, I am pretty sure you had some then) and got pictures taken with many of the mascots that were wandering around. I think most of the folks in the costumes were students of Jeff’s. He was super popular that day, and we couldn’t go more than a couple steps without hearing another cry of “Jefuu! Jefuu!” from another of his students. It was cute, but made it hard to get anywhere fast. Haha. I also met some of the local Akita JETs. Nice folks.

We stopped in at Baskin Robbins to get my birthday cake and were treated to a flash mob! If you’re unfamiliar with what that is, my understanding is, it happens when word is put out via some form of social media about a time and place to meet and then do something together. Like, dance or play instruments. This one used the mall’s speaker system and began with the ‘traditional’ (it began in the 1920 on the radio) Japanese morning exercise routine (“rajio taiso”, which means ‘radio exercise’). I managed to get some video of the 3rd song or so, when some children joined in with the growing group of adults. It was really neat to see!

Dinner that night was kaiten-zushi (just read it phonetically… haha) which conveyer belt sushi. There are booths throughout the restaurant and you can either grab a plate with one or two pieces of sushi (or dessert or juice box etc) as they go past, or use a touch screen monitor to order off the menu and it will be prepared and sent down to your booth. The cost of the dishes is based upon the colour of the plate the food is on, so, when you are finished, you just stack your plates, buzz for a server and they write you a bill. There are a couple of different chains that I have been to, the largest being kappa-zushi (their mascot is a cute kappa monster) and most of their sushi is $100 a roll.

That evening’s entertainment was a couple of movies that we rented (Wreck-it-Ralph and The Great Gadsby, if you’re interested) and we enjoyed a chocolate ice cream cake for dessert. They even sang for me and I got to blow out candles and everything. It was a really lovely night.

Monday October 14th

Mel made us pancakes for breakfast. They were a wonderful way to begin my actual birthday. Once our bellies were full, she and I made our way to the local onsen for a shower and a relaxing soak in a hot tub. Soooo nice. We didn’t stay long, as we wanted to try and make some Magewappa　(“bend woodware”, famous from Akita) dishes either at the museum or back at the festival. 
Sadly, we did not get there in time to participate in the last course, so instead we headed to a couple of the local recycle/second hand shops to try our luck at some previously owned dishes. I managed to find a nice candy dish for myself, but even MORE exciting was the kimono I found for less than $100. It’s gold coloured with dark green and dark orange flowers along the bottom that go up along one side and over the arm. So, now I am looking for the rest of the pieces I need to complete the outfit. My female co-worker, Utsumi, said she will help me find some of them. We will talk to a folks at a kimono shop to find out what colour my obi should be (I hope something nice, like a green, but, my fashion sense and Japanese fashion sense are rarely similar) and zori (sandals) and tabi (two toed-socks). But it’s very exciting!

I left for Shichinohe late in the afternoon, as I planned to take the road through the mountains and did not want to have to navigate the switchbacks and hairpin turns in the dark (I did it last year, the first time I ever went down to Mel and Jeff’s place, but I would rather have daylight). As it happened, my timing was perfect, I arrived at one of my favourite scenic points just in time for sunset. It was a beautiful end to my birthday.

… but it wasn’t quite the end, as I found a notice about a missed delivery! Lianne had sent me a birthday present via Amazon.co.jp and when the fellow dropped it off, I found she had sent me a crock pot! Hooray!!! I’ve put it to good use every chance I’ve gotten since I got it. Made a tomato & spinach chicken, Roctober curry (my own creation, inspired by my favorite Friday school lunch) and just yesterday I made some super exquisite stew with horse meat! Oh my glob, Gramma, it is so delicious.

All in all, it was a fantastically fun weekend with some great friends.

I love you and miss you lots!
Take care and please help my Mum keep Dad in line. Haha.

- CC

Guess what else I got myself for my birthday...