Catching up on "What I did" stuff
Last weekend was the 1st of July, which, aside from being Canada Day (YAY!) was the first ever Trivia Night organized by Everest of Apples, the JET charity for our prefecture. They send money to support and build a school in Nepal.
This event was a big one - about 130 people from around Tohoku came out to join in. It was a blast.
Started with Team Towada heading out about noon to Lake Towada. Arrived around 2pm, checked in, dropped stuff off, and then hit the BBQ. Some Australian company had donated meat, so it was "chunks of meat" time, with whatever else you brought. It was fun, getting to catch up with people I don't see often, and meet others. Only problem was the meat was being cooked on two small bbqs, so it took forever. I was glad I bought potato salad and chips and other things to nosh on.
After the bbq team Nambu腕 (read as "nambuwan" which sounds like "number 1" - we're so full of puns) retreated to the HQ in room 706 and made our "Nambu arms" (腕 is the kanji for "arm" and is usually pronounced "ude", but it has an alternate reading as you can see). They were these cool sleeves from the 100yen shop that had a hole for the thumbs and fingers and went past the elbow. On the train ride home from Niigata (which I still have to write about) I cut fun letters saying "Nambu" from felt (red, green and blue). The sleeve colors were white, grey and black. The felt letters were stuck on to the gloves with double-sided tape, which held rather well.
After the team building exercise, we headed down for dinner, which was rather tasty, and then retreated back to the room to put on our yukata since we wanted to wear it. We used a himo to tie the sleeves back like we were working in order to show off our snazzy team wear. The guys rolled up their shirt sleeves.
The Trivia night commenced about 830-9pm. We were at a far table. The way it worked was that the questions were read, we had about 10 seconds to fill it in, then the next question was read. We had one minute at the end to fill it in and hand it to someone. It made for a very fast, challenging game. Our team actually knew quite a bit - we had people from all different areas - literature, sports, computers, science, Japan (2 Japanese members), French language... it was a good mix. We actually did rather well on our own, though we did use some other implements - an electronic dictionary, a JET diary, and cellphones. Nothing was said in the rules about not using them, so we did.
Before we even started, Sunny proposed, "If we win, the money goes to EofA, right?" and everyone agreed. Seemed weird to go to a charity event and then take money from it (even though they did make some other money).
Well, after lots of fun and shouting, and cheering for Teammates as they did physical challenges (leg war was one - our team member won a basket of foreign foods and shared some granola bars with us for energy), we waited for our scores to go up on the board.
Turns out we did rather well - Nambu腕 was actually Number 1!!
So we came up there, and after the prize giver dumped the money in our hands, we grouped around and told her it's going back to EofA, which made her happy. It was over 3man, after all ($300), and we certainly didn't need the $30 each or whatever we would have gotten. Pictures were taken and we had a blast.
Then many left to go watch the World Cup game at midnight and we dispersed. I made my way to our room where I drank the wine we had left over (lots of alcohol was had during the evening) and ate the cookies I had brought and chatted with a different team member from Tsugaru. I think we eventually crashed around 2am or 3 am. It was great fun.
In the morning, we drove slowly back to Towada (the road is really windy and some were hungover) and enjoyed the rest of our weekend. Good times were had by all, I think. ^-^
I think I'll write about the Leaver's party later... rather, I'll just do jot-notes.
I didn't have to go to work at all on that Friday, so I relaxed, then got ready (makeup! OMG) and drove to pick up two girls from Towada who were originally going to take the bus. One had an oven to give to another JET, and I said I would drive it out.
We took a nice drive through the mountains, arrived in Aomori, had Capriccosas for lunch, and then went our separate ways. I went to the Visa office to do the paperwork to change over my visa at the end of my contract. Had to wait a long time b/c Sunny wasn't answering his emails or telephone (perhaps the tunnels were blocking the signals) and I didn't know when he would arrive. Eventually I left as I had to get dressed in kimono. He calls about 2:50 and asks me to meet him there so he can do his own visa (the guy wouldn't let me do his, even though there's a spot for a proxy). Then I drove to the hotel and went up and started to change. I dressed both Sunil and I (he helped - he had a crash lesson in men's kitsuke the night before at midnight) in half an hour and then we went to the leaver's party.
Friday's Leaver's Party
- people looked great!
- we were the only ones in wafuku
- Steve wore his cowboy hat <3
- free food and alcohol
- got to see people I don't usually see
- took lots of photos
- got lots of compliments
- received a framed certificate for my time here and a meishi case
- Sunil got two really long handshakes from the governor (?) for wearing men's kimono (it was funny)
- changed and went to the nijikai
- someone called me sexy :P (it wasn't even that "bootay" of an outfit)
- got to the bar a little late, but paid $$ and had a good time
- took a little while for me to feel comfortable dancing (I'm not much of a dancer, and I worry what others think of me, so I get afraid to go up there), but I did
- dancing was a blast! (I was sore on Sunday still! Ugh)
- I danced with Sunny (who swears he could always dance like that, but I wouldn't know since I never dance [which is true, I don't usually])
- we hung out at the party until after midnight when we were kicked out
- didn't feel like doing the sanjikai, so we called it a night
Saturday
- another JET came and picked up the stove for the JET that wanted it
- we checked out and decided to go see Juuniko, in Tsugaru, because we haven't
- stopped at Nitori to look for tansu (none), and Toys R Us for hidamari (bought 4, yay! ground brown, ocean blue, white day, and Float White http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/nohohon_special/)
- on the way we hit the TachiNeputa Museum in Goshogawara (which was rather AWESOME, as I didn't realize those suckers were TWENTY TWO METERS TALL o.O)
- decided near Aji that we didn't want to drive the next two hours to the lakes and thought we'd check out the petrified forest
- after driving for a hour, we gave up and called Steve in Hirosaki
- picked up Steve and had SushiKake for lunch and hit the "geek shop" where I spent only 400yen and got Book 2 and 3 of the CCS artbooks
- nice mountain drive
- out to Towada for the evening
Sunday
- Towada Nishi's school festival
- food, photos, fun kids
- Sunny made an awesome spiderman button, and as we were looking for photos, searched "hidamari no tami" in google and found my photos (http://images.google.ca/images?hl=ja&q=hidamari%20no%20tami&sa=N&tab=wi - the second one and the fourth one, only the fourth one is hosted on our site, the second is in someone's blog, which is possibly in Spanish)
- then went to meet other Towada JETs and Yasuko for a culture day
- did calligraphy all morning, drawing "hana" (花) over and over the calligraphy way, which is a little different from normal kanji
- did it on two boards and a big paper, which had a neat effect
- after was tea ceremony
- we were dressed in kimono (worst kitsuke event ever - the kimono as too small, too narrow, and see-thru [and we didn't have kimono underwear, so everyone saw my panties])
- after we had tea she gave us some lessons, but only got two people done since it took so long to do the entire thing
- then it was dinner at Yasuko's house with everyone, and it was tasty and fun and we had to give speeches in Japanese
And that brings me to now.
In car news, the car is registered in Alberta, so I don't have to change that. And he can't have it out in Edmonton for me, but he's offered to fly me out to BC so I can save time (won't have to drive out there) and then drive back. Won't have to change the name for insurance as it's in his name and he's willing to leave it that way if cheaper, but I just don't know how that will work if I technically will own the car. We'll see! Yay! Now I have to figure out what days I want to go to BC...
Since it seems I shall have a car, I will be attending CNA. Yay! But probably only Saturday, maybe Sunday, not sure...
COSTUMECON PEEPS
They now offer payments with paypal! Yay! Did anyone else want to get in on this and make one payment all together? I want to pay before Oct 31st as then it goes up another $10. I am willing to make the payment from my paypal account.
This event was a big one - about 130 people from around Tohoku came out to join in. It was a blast.
Started with Team Towada heading out about noon to Lake Towada. Arrived around 2pm, checked in, dropped stuff off, and then hit the BBQ. Some Australian company had donated meat, so it was "chunks of meat" time, with whatever else you brought. It was fun, getting to catch up with people I don't see often, and meet others. Only problem was the meat was being cooked on two small bbqs, so it took forever. I was glad I bought potato salad and chips and other things to nosh on.
After the bbq team Nambu腕 (read as "nambuwan" which sounds like "number 1" - we're so full of puns) retreated to the HQ in room 706 and made our "Nambu arms" (腕 is the kanji for "arm" and is usually pronounced "ude", but it has an alternate reading as you can see). They were these cool sleeves from the 100yen shop that had a hole for the thumbs and fingers and went past the elbow. On the train ride home from Niigata (which I still have to write about) I cut fun letters saying "Nambu" from felt (red, green and blue). The sleeve colors were white, grey and black. The felt letters were stuck on to the gloves with double-sided tape, which held rather well.
After the team building exercise, we headed down for dinner, which was rather tasty, and then retreated back to the room to put on our yukata since we wanted to wear it. We used a himo to tie the sleeves back like we were working in order to show off our snazzy team wear. The guys rolled up their shirt sleeves.
The Trivia night commenced about 830-9pm. We were at a far table. The way it worked was that the questions were read, we had about 10 seconds to fill it in, then the next question was read. We had one minute at the end to fill it in and hand it to someone. It made for a very fast, challenging game. Our team actually knew quite a bit - we had people from all different areas - literature, sports, computers, science, Japan (2 Japanese members), French language... it was a good mix. We actually did rather well on our own, though we did use some other implements - an electronic dictionary, a JET diary, and cellphones. Nothing was said in the rules about not using them, so we did.
Before we even started, Sunny proposed, "If we win, the money goes to EofA, right?" and everyone agreed. Seemed weird to go to a charity event and then take money from it (even though they did make some other money).
Well, after lots of fun and shouting, and cheering for Teammates as they did physical challenges (leg war was one - our team member won a basket of foreign foods and shared some granola bars with us for energy), we waited for our scores to go up on the board.
Turns out we did rather well - Nambu腕 was actually Number 1!!
So we came up there, and after the prize giver dumped the money in our hands, we grouped around and told her it's going back to EofA, which made her happy. It was over 3man, after all ($300), and we certainly didn't need the $30 each or whatever we would have gotten. Pictures were taken and we had a blast.
Then many left to go watch the World Cup game at midnight and we dispersed. I made my way to our room where I drank the wine we had left over (lots of alcohol was had during the evening) and ate the cookies I had brought and chatted with a different team member from Tsugaru. I think we eventually crashed around 2am or 3 am. It was great fun.
In the morning, we drove slowly back to Towada (the road is really windy and some were hungover) and enjoyed the rest of our weekend. Good times were had by all, I think. ^-^
I think I'll write about the Leaver's party later... rather, I'll just do jot-notes.
I didn't have to go to work at all on that Friday, so I relaxed, then got ready (makeup! OMG) and drove to pick up two girls from Towada who were originally going to take the bus. One had an oven to give to another JET, and I said I would drive it out.
We took a nice drive through the mountains, arrived in Aomori, had Capriccosas for lunch, and then went our separate ways. I went to the Visa office to do the paperwork to change over my visa at the end of my contract. Had to wait a long time b/c Sunny wasn't answering his emails or telephone (perhaps the tunnels were blocking the signals) and I didn't know when he would arrive. Eventually I left as I had to get dressed in kimono. He calls about 2:50 and asks me to meet him there so he can do his own visa (the guy wouldn't let me do his, even though there's a spot for a proxy). Then I drove to the hotel and went up and started to change. I dressed both Sunil and I (he helped - he had a crash lesson in men's kitsuke the night before at midnight) in half an hour and then we went to the leaver's party.
Friday's Leaver's Party
- people looked great!
- we were the only ones in wafuku
- Steve wore his cowboy hat <3
- free food and alcohol
- got to see people I don't usually see
- took lots of photos
- got lots of compliments
- received a framed certificate for my time here and a meishi case
- Sunil got two really long handshakes from the governor (?) for wearing men's kimono (it was funny)
- changed and went to the nijikai
- someone called me sexy :P (it wasn't even that "bootay" of an outfit)
- got to the bar a little late, but paid $$ and had a good time
- took a little while for me to feel comfortable dancing (I'm not much of a dancer, and I worry what others think of me, so I get afraid to go up there), but I did
- dancing was a blast! (I was sore on Sunday still! Ugh)
- I danced with Sunny (who swears he could always dance like that, but I wouldn't know since I never dance [which is true, I don't usually])
- we hung out at the party until after midnight when we were kicked out
- didn't feel like doing the sanjikai, so we called it a night
Saturday
- another JET came and picked up the stove for the JET that wanted it
- we checked out and decided to go see Juuniko, in Tsugaru, because we haven't
- stopped at Nitori to look for tansu (none), and Toys R Us for hidamari (bought 4, yay! ground brown, ocean blue, white day, and Float White http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/nohohon_special/)
- on the way we hit the TachiNeputa Museum in Goshogawara (which was rather AWESOME, as I didn't realize those suckers were TWENTY TWO METERS TALL o.O)
- decided near Aji that we didn't want to drive the next two hours to the lakes and thought we'd check out the petrified forest
- after driving for a hour, we gave up and called Steve in Hirosaki
- picked up Steve and had SushiKake for lunch and hit the "geek shop" where I spent only 400yen and got Book 2 and 3 of the CCS artbooks
- nice mountain drive
- out to Towada for the evening
Sunday
- Towada Nishi's school festival
- food, photos, fun kids
- Sunny made an awesome spiderman button, and as we were looking for photos, searched "hidamari no tami" in google and found my photos (http://images.google.ca/images?hl=ja&q=hidamari%20no%20tami&sa=N&tab=wi - the second one and the fourth one, only the fourth one is hosted on our site, the second is in someone's blog, which is possibly in Spanish)
- then went to meet other Towada JETs and Yasuko for a culture day
- did calligraphy all morning, drawing "hana" (花) over and over the calligraphy way, which is a little different from normal kanji
- did it on two boards and a big paper, which had a neat effect
- after was tea ceremony
- we were dressed in kimono (worst kitsuke event ever - the kimono as too small, too narrow, and see-thru [and we didn't have kimono underwear, so everyone saw my panties])
- after we had tea she gave us some lessons, but only got two people done since it took so long to do the entire thing
- then it was dinner at Yasuko's house with everyone, and it was tasty and fun and we had to give speeches in Japanese
And that brings me to now.
In car news, the car is registered in Alberta, so I don't have to change that. And he can't have it out in Edmonton for me, but he's offered to fly me out to BC so I can save time (won't have to drive out there) and then drive back. Won't have to change the name for insurance as it's in his name and he's willing to leave it that way if cheaper, but I just don't know how that will work if I technically will own the car. We'll see! Yay! Now I have to figure out what days I want to go to BC...
Since it seems I shall have a car, I will be attending CNA. Yay! But probably only Saturday, maybe Sunday, not sure...
COSTUMECON PEEPS
They now offer payments with paypal! Yay! Did anyone else want to get in on this and make one payment all together? I want to pay before Oct 31st as then it goes up another $10. I am willing to make the payment from my paypal account.
