Gizmos and Carnival Floats

Ah, isn't it lovely? That there spooky glowing black box at the top is the 40GB iRiver mp3 player I purchased last Saturday with money that, to be honest, I probably don't really have. Still, having a device that contains pretty much all the records you own and allows you to play video files while travelling on a train means I don't mind surviving off rice for a week if it comes to that.

Deeply tedious subject for a post, I know, so on to my activities that evening - first off was drinks party (enkai as they call them out here - I think) with the aikido mob, which was pretty enjoyable, aside from one peculiar moment where I had to ritually fill head honcho Shirakami Sensei's lager glass in a display of deference. Peculiar, as this is pretty much what everyone does at a drinks do in Japan anyay - you never fill your own (usually small) glass from the (usually large) bottle but wait for someone else to offer. The difference when I did it for the Shirster was that he was holding his glass unsteadily above the table while I stood at a higher level pooring it from above - with flashbacks of my days as a waiter spilling drinks over people on my mind, I did it soon as poss. and retreated to my spot. Apart from that moment of slight awkwardness, my appalling Japanese just about managed to hold up under the circumstances and a happy time was had by all - including the strange "Go, team!" moment outside when it was over, with everyone stood round in a circle, raising one fist and shouting "hunh!" or something several times. Well, if it makes them happy...

After that, I ventured to Kokawa town to join Sean and Noel at the annual Kokawa festival being held that day. Arriving after 10, late enough to miss the newly arrived local ALTs and just in time to witness most of the fetival winding down, I took in the sight of these large carnival floats blazing away in the night (there's one up there, near the top), some with young children rather precariously hanging out the top of them.

With most of the stalls having shut and little else really happening by this point besides lots of milling about and drinking by the remains of the crowds that had been there earlier, we were offered fine lager and sushi by one of Sean's school colleagues at his family home - effortlessly charismatic and linguistically proficient as Sean and Noel both are, I was happy to sit back and let them do most of the talking.

Leaving there, we drifted in the direction of the station, having missed the last train and wondered what to do. As everyone was going home, the size of the town and the appearance of its streets at this time of night suddenly reminded me somewhat wistfully of going to a couple of Bonfire festivals in Lewes, Sussex during my student days. After going to the supermarket, for lack of anything to do and to stock up on booze and crispy munch, It was still early, and with just about every izakaya (pub) seemingly closed, a taxi seemed to be in order. However, doing this when the local company is also closed, and when the only number you have is for a company with whom you cannot make any meaningful communication with whatsoever in Japanese (not helped by Noel going AWOL and Sean passing out on the pavement) the only obvious thing to do is get as pissed as you can and kip in the station, as I did.

Alternatively, you can kip in a carnival float parked directly outside the station as Sean and Noel (when he re-appeared) did. I was all about to, but at the point of climbing in and joining them, a scary crowd of zealous float pushers and taiko drummers appeared on the opposite side of the road. Not wishing to attract attention, I thought I'd leave them to it. 3 highly uncomfortable and slightly smelly hours hours later, I caught the first train alone after attempting to rouse a very stubborn slumbering Suffolkean and comatose Tennessean. Can't say I didn't try.

So, back to the 'working week' and it's as uneventful as ever, besides attempting to sort out everything I need to before heading to the UK this Saturday and finally managing to persuade the PE department to let me use the school pool. Hurrah! And on that inconsequential note, here endeth the ramble.