Party Before the Storm: Days 80-96

Day 84 (12/19/09): Christmas Party

It being December and all, those of us at the kaikan decided to have a get together and celebrate the holiday together. We decided to do the party a week before because many of us the were going to be involved would be involved traveling around on Christmas, so a week earlier was best for most people. The party was a potluck and secret Santa mix.
Two weeks before I took down a list of people who wanted to join in, then wrote up names on pieces of paper and threw them in Zach’s traveling hat. After everyone selected a name, we went off and got appropriate gifts for our selected person. On the day of the Party we all brought at least 10$ of food or drink with us so we could feast. We did indeed feast, many types of food were brought: Nora, Ami and Mina made Hungarian pancakes, Zach bought oranges and chocolate, Matt boiled up some edamame and brought a Christmas cake, Seulgi brought Wine, Ashley brought mini cakes, Eva and I brought fried chicken and everyone else brought a random assortment of snacks and drinks. The party was supposed to start at 6pm, but got off around 7:00. It all worked out though, because we had a lot of fun. We ate a lot of food and then open up our gifts. We all got really good gifts, and it was really fun to celebrate the holiday with friends. Being alone would have sucked majorly.
The rest of the night we talked and drank, Charlotte playing DJ as we all danced. Mina got overly excited (as usual) and wanted to be DJ too, taking up the mantle after charlotte left around 9:30. I had Jesse’s dice, so we ended up playing 7, 11 or doubles. We played in the lobby and Hoon’s room till 2 in the morning and called it a night. It’s funny how we always seem to hang out en masse in small spaces with alcohol. Sometimes the most memorable moments in your life involve beer, dice and close friends.

Day 88:いっしょうに花火を見たいです( I want to watch the fireworks with you)

In Japan Christmas Eve is Considered a big and important date night ( much like Valentines Day in the U.S.). On this holiday, instead of being with family and eagerly awaiting Santa’s arrival, you go on a romantic date with your boyfriend/girlfriend and do romantic couple type of stuff. So Eva and I decided to try that out and planned a romantic evening.
With our friend Jon and his girlfriend Nozomi, and his friend John ( Ironic right?) and his fiancé Narumi to watch the fireworks in Beppu over the Bay. That night is the 2nd of two nights of fireworks; the first is for everyone and the 2nd is geared toward couples. Eva and I decided to definitely go the 2nd night and so off we went. We got to the station, bought the train tickets (which were selling out very fast) and got on the train. The station has never been so crowded before; full of couples everywhere. This holiday was obviously a couples holiday, even before we got to the event itself.
After arriving in Beppu we followed the set path to the show, and found a seat on the beach to watch. After a short wait of 15 mins or so, the fireworks began and they were beautiful. They were even better than the ones I usually see at the A’s fireworks games. A huge barge sat out in the bay, and from it, the fireworks blasted forth. The music was pretty good too despite the Dj’s incessant talking between each set of 2 songs. I guess he was trying to show off his English speaking skillz, but I wasn’t much impressed. The show lasted about 45 minutes or so, and then, the couples on the beach, we together moved as a great wave out from the beach and into the city for dinner.
John and reserved a Korean Barbeque place for diner and it was great; lots of delicious meat and chanpo. We ate in the warmth of our table side grill and talked for a couple hours. After, we were all very full and went back home to dream of sugarplums and sleigh bells. On the way back, there were a number of very…. interestingly dressed youths acting in all sorts of ways that were strange and rude. Eva, Myself and the other couples couldn’t help but stare at them a bit in wonder and mild amusement.

Day 90 (12/26/09): Fat Man’s Plane and the Pilgrimage of Drinking

5am is an ungodly time that should be reclassified as ‘night’ rather than ‘morning’. It was a little before then I had to wake up, dress and grab my luggage. It was the day we were going to Okinawa and the day began earlier than the sun. When I got to Eva’s room at 5:10 she was still asleep, having slept through her alarm. Thankfully after I woke her up, she moved quickly if not in a deep mental fog and we left. She had been woken up by her noisy and annoying neighbors above her again, and was even sleepier than she needed to be. Me almost door bell ditched them but thought better of it, it was too early to give a damn. After 15 mins of walking we got to the bus stop and in no time at all got onto the 6am bus to Fukuoka.
Fukuoka takes about 2 1/2 hours by bus, and when we arrived there in the, the sun was just coming up. Arriving at Fukuoka, we got on the subway to the airport, got our tickets, checked in our baggage and waited an hour for the plane. Eva and I were really hungry after we got through security and so we went for some breakfast. We found a place that served udon noodles and we each got a bowl. The noodles weren’t enough though and we ended up getting coke and ice cream floats. We were hungry, so hungry and eating some bizarre things before 10 am. When we go on the plane, the longest part of the trip began.
The plane was only going to take 2 hours to get to Okinawa, but the man in front of Eva was hell bent on making it seem longer. He was the 2nd fattest man I have seen in Japan and he damn near took up two seats himself. The poor girl next to him look on warily and avoided eye contact. He on the other hand had no problem staring at her up and down as though she were some sandwich he wished to eat. Speaking of food, fatty brought smelly food on the plane which made Eva and my hunger pangs live anew. Afdter the plane took off and fatty had eaten his fill the sleeping began. Now, you would think asleep, he would annoy us less. Far from it because he snored like a dump truck ran into a brick wall. He also snored and tipped over to the right, nearly with his head on the young girl’s shoulder. It took not 10 mins for her to run to a vacant seat to escape the man. Eva and I however, were not as fortunate. He snored the ENTIRE flight!!!
Longest.
2 hours.
of.
MY LIFE!

When we arrived in Okinawa, we found Nicky and his parents they took us and our luggage to their car and we began our Okinawan vacation!
The first objective was lunch, and so we went off to eat a Traditional Okinawan set; Souki and Goiya. Souki is a udon which is has pork. The pork is stewed for more then 24 hours which makes it so soft and sweet, you can eat the bone, which is soft enough to chew. Goiya is Okinawa bitter melon with a mix of spam and egg and is much better than you may think. Lunch was great with Nicky and his family, Okinawa was getting off to a good start.
After lunch, we went to a historical sight, the Old Naval outpost in Okinawa during the War. We walked around the tunnels and into the various rooms, including one full of shrapnel and bullet holes where the officers had committed suicide with grenades and handguns. It was both Haunting and incredibly interesting. From there we went to the cliff side memorial, where, on big polished walls of marble, the names of the American soldiers and Okinawa citizens who died on Okinawa were written. There were about 6-10 thousand foreign names written and over a million Okinawan citizens. The sheer number of names was daunting to think about. The other thing about the site too was, it was on the cliff many people jumped to their death to avoid their American Aggressors. There are also many caves on the cliff sides that are closed off to the public where archeologists are still finding ghosts from the War. From there we went to a Okinawa Glass Blowing Area where they make all types of high Quality Okinawan Glass. It was really cool, they even had glow in the dark glass which was the most surprising. Me and Eva both got a glass in the Famous Okinawan glass color of Red.
As the sun set, we went off to International street where Eva, Nicky and I wandered around a bit. Eva and I bought some souvenirs and walked around looking at all the light and shops. It was too much to see in one night. After an hour or so, we met back up with Nicky’s parents and went off to their home to drop off our things. When we arrived me and Eva became aware of one reality when you stay in someone’s home; separate beds. Nicky’s mom was so nervous about it, she had me and Nicky sleep in one room on separate futons and Eva by herself in another room. A little shocking, but reality of life.
After a little food prepared by Mrs. Bayani , we went off for a night of parting. We drove to a Karaoke. We were met by over 10 Japanese people of all ages who greeted us with joyful cheers and shouts. We met everyone and ordered some food and drink and a night of singing and drinking began. Among us was a professional singer and friend of the family. He was very talented musically and was even putting out records, attaining some amount of Fame on Okinawa. With him, me and Eva sang some songs, and our group with us was loud and enthusiastic, singing and clapping along with us. It was probably the most fun I have ever had at karaoke. During the singing I tried a few mugs of the Okinawan famous beer, Orion and it was really good. I also had some awamori, which, is sweeter and stronger than sake, and before I knew it , I was hit hard by the Awamori, and drunk. I had been given a beer mug of it, half water and half awamori and it was powerfully delicious. After 3 hours or so at Karaoke we went over to a local bar where we continued to eat and drink. The guy who owned the bar and his wife did some music with a friend of their and they played a medley of tunes. We eventually went back around 2am and slept off the alcohol. The other however, were still partying as we left, I salute them and their endless stamina.

Day 91: JESUS, that’s a big crab!!!!

We were awaken the next day at 9am by Nicky’s mom. She woke us with the opening of blinds and very cheerful saying “Ohaiyo”. She answered and allowed no questions: we were waking up, end of discussion. So I got up and took the first shower, and dressed, and as I waited for Eva and Nicky, I experienced something I had missed; American TV. I watched Animal planet with Nicky’s dad, it was really nice to watch TV in my language for a change. When everyone was ready we went off fro breakfast, at A&W. Eva and I were really excited, we had root beer for the first time in awhile. It was delicious. I had Chili Cheese curly fries and a Burger. It tasted just like home. It was strange for breakfast perhaps, but me and Eva were thrilled. After breakfast we hopped in the car and drove up the coast for an hour a half to the Chimamura Aquarium, the largest Aquarium in Japan. It was gorgeous. So many different tanks, full of many different animals I could barely contain my excitement. I took a lot of viedo of the creatures there, and hope to put it online (eventually). There were deep sea fish the blinked, Giant lobsters and Crabs bigger than dogs and even a massive tank filled with some of the largest ocean creatures. In that center tank were giant manta rays, a lot of different sharks and other types of rays, but amazingly they also had 3 whale sharks. THREE. And each was about 30-40 feet long. It was an awesome sight to behold.
After the Aquarium we went of to lunch for another famous Okinwan dish: Taco Rice. Taco Rice, as you can imagine has rice, then lettuce, Taco meat, tomatoes, cheese and salsa. It’s really good and I was surprised to find its very popular in Okinawa. When we finished lunch we drove to the giant American Shopping mall where Nicky’s parents dropped Eva, Nicky and me. We took purikura, wandered around and Eva and I even rode the giant Ferris wheel. It was pretty cool. It was definitely the biggest Ferris wheel I have ever been on.
For dinner we went to a big buffet place where Nicky had invited a lot of his friends so we could have dinner, drink and talk. The food was great and so were the drinks it was really fun.Only 2 people showed up however, because everyone was either out of the country or busy at work. One of the 2 that showed up spoke English really well but she was incredibly cold and unfriendly. So Me and Eva spent the evening talking to Nicky and the other friend, Yuenosuke. After awhile when Nicky’s parents went home, we went to Karaoke nearby and met another of Nicky’s friends who came along. We sang karaoke till 2am and drove back home in yuenosuke’s pimped out car. It had 4 TV’s, LED lights, curtains, carpeting and leather. It was pretty cool, but Eva and I wondered how he drove with all the lights and distractions…. . Eva, Nicky and I stayed up till 3am talking and eventually passed out.

Day 96 (1/1/2010): Winter is too cold for New Years

After surviving our crazy New Years, me and Eva went over to Saori’s house for some customary Japanese food and traditions. We ate some mochi miso for lunch and talked with Chiemi and Papa. After lunch the girls went back to put on their kimonos and I sat with Papa and we watched the Finals of Japanese Soccer, Nagoya versus Osaka. After 2 hours the girls emerged pretty and dressed up. Eva was really really cute in her Kimono!
So we go on our jackets and scarves, the girls had small blankets and we went to the local shrine and waited. After 45 minutes in the cold, we got to the front and made our New Year’s wishes. It was fun, despite the cold. When we got back we had traditional New Years food which is an assortment of many yummy things, and I tried all of them. It was really good and it made me really happy. Eva and I were very full by the end of the night