Haven't checked in here for awhile, mostly because I've been sick sick sick. And I was going to make a post declaring my sickness, but thought it would only sound whiny and make me feel worse. So I will merely mention my incessant illness - doctor's trip #10 on Wednesday! - and move on.
Busy week last week, lots of extra classes for the summer session. Fun facts: students get a month or two off from public school in summer, but they often continue going to juku ("cram school"), even more than usual, because they just LOVE studying and apparently have no lives. Or I guess this is what happens when you have a stagnant economy, a small number of really good universities (who totally cover your education, natch), and a shit ton of people. America, take note.
So last week was lame, exacerbated by constant stomach pains. Then this weekend there were FIREWORKS. I know, you're thinking "oh who cares about fireworks" but fireworks in Japan are nothing to joke about. They last for 2+ hours and it's just constant finale. They were being shot off from multiple places and it was like the sky was just exploding over and over, almost mind numbing if you stare at it too long...
Anyway, so my bandmates and I had practice Saturday, and then decided to go swim underneath the fireworks. "It's only a 15, 20 minute walk," they told me. So we already missed the first hour or so, but we've got lots of time. We walk. And walk. And walk. We walk for over an hour, the colored sparks looming larger as we progress. And finally we make it to this river, where lots of people in boats were watching the fireworks, which had just ended (of course). But absolutely nobody is swimming. There is no beach. It's just rocks and this river filled with boats.
Now, I hate doing things that are vaguely illegal and may involve dealing with police officers, especially when said police officers don't speak English and have no qualms with putting you in jail for undisclosed amounts of time simply for being a foreigner. But we walked so far...and Jacob and Jenn are still pretty intent on swimming, so we make our way onto this little peninsula and walk under the bridge filled with cars and buses and people, and we watch the little wooden boats float by. Jacob is pretty excited to get in, so he just slides down the steep, rocky bank and jumps in. And one of the dudes on the boats starts shouting at him.
Of course.
Thankfully, per Jenn's translation, he merely told us to wait for the boats to finish passing through. Then we could swim. Ok. We wait another 15 minutes, and the river's pretty empty. Fireworks are long past gone, and people are clearing the area (though plenty still remain - fireworks day is a big deal, everyone's out on the streets, drinking and being merry, and the girls all wear kimonos. Kind of interesting to think about, how wearing a special outfit can enhance your enjoyment of special days, even if said special day is just fireworks day. Their kimonos certainly enhanced my enjoyment of it - girls walking around with their hair done nice, in pretty dresses with big ribbons on the back, like presents just waiting to be untied...but I digress)
Anyway, we swam for like 10 minutes, because it was cold and kind of not fun, but at least it meant we didn't walk all that way for nothing, and it made the trip back nicer because it wasn't so hot anymore. And after about 30 minutes we even managed to catch a bus, so that was pretty nice. All in all, a solid Saturday.
Sunday involved art galleries in Nagoya and a sunglasses-themed concert at our favorite local live house. Also, free junk food. I could go on about the bands that played, but I won't because I'm tired of writing. And then Monday I had some classes with high school kids and watched the Simpsons movie, which I will be showing to my middle school students today. It's funnier than I remembered it being! I'll have to block out the cartoon penis though.
That's all for now.
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