Dontosai

Wow, what a busy first weekend back in Sendai. I've been running errands and having a good time non-stop. Sunday afternoon I went to Sendai's International Centre and I got some information about non-profit and for-profit organizations that teach Japanese. I've had a lot of free time over the last year because there is a limit to the number of hours I can teach a week (30), so I want to finally use some of that free time for something useful: Nihongo o benkyousuru (study Japanese). I hope to take between 2 and 4 lessons a week soon. I'll keep you updated at how that's going. So after that I studied at a cafe where Ryoko was engrossed in her Financial Planning books. She's planning to write an FP test on the 28th, so she's been "burning the candle at both ends" this whole month. I hope she does well(^_^). So I studied some Japanese, but I also brushed up on my English grammar; you know, that scary stuff that even English teachers don't like to look at sometimes. So I spent 2 hours reviewing modal verbs and 45 minutes reviewing my kanji. I'm such a geek.

Ryoko still had to study, so I left her to it and I joined Lauren, Ciara and Akira, one of our students, and we went to Osaki Hachiman, Sendai's largest and oldest shrine. January 14 every year is Dontosai, a festival that is tied in with New Year's Day. People go to Osaki Hachiman late in the afternoon and throw their New Year's decorations into a large bonfire made by the Shinto priests (the man in the white robe and purple hat). Most people also go to the shrine and pray again for good luck in the new year. I threw in a small decoration that Ryoko had given me and I threw in an arrow that I bought on New Year's Day 2006. You buy the small arrow early in the year from a shrine and keep it in your house, where it collects all the negative energy over the whole year. Naturally, I bought another arrow while I was there.

I was amazed at the crowds. Last year I went after work, so it was about 10pm when I got there, but this time I went at around 5pm when most people visit the shrine. Over 100,000 people visited the shrine last year, and I'm sure the same number came this year too.

Today I got my hair cut (overdue) and had a "fun" time at the post office as I tried to send money home. Japan doesn't like it when you send money out of the country, so they ask you to explain why you're sending the money. Anyway, it's ben sent and I know what to tell them next time. Mwahaha (^_^).

My Odyssey

My 2 week whirlwind tour of home has is over, and I must say that it was fun, but it wiped me out.
The jet lag was a major problem while I was home, as I never really got over it and found myself crawling to bed at 10 or 10:30 every night. I used to be the king of late night; especially in my last year of University when I wrote my thesis every night between 11pm and 4am. I would head to bed as my annoying neighbour brought her dog out to do its early morning business on OUR front lawn. Thanks...
And for the last 12 or 13 Christmases I would head to bed at 2am at the earliest because I wouldn't want the day to ever end; but this Christmas I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30 and then went to bed at 9:30. The king is dead(Sigh).
I call it a whirlwind trip because I think I only had 1 day out of 14 where I didn't go somewhere to do something. If I wasn't meeting friends or relatives, then I was oot and aboot buying something or doing some sort of business (bank, dentist, shoes, shirts, presents etc.). But I managed to see almost everyone I wanted to see (sorry Leo, next time) and it was great catching up. I managed to eat all the foods I had wanted as well, including a few fast food combos, pizza, Canadian beer, sweets and the innumerable delicacies from my mother(^_^). A day and a night in Toronto eating Fish & Chips, French food and shopping at the Eaton Centre was an added plus as well.
Surprisingly, I suffered "reverse culture shock" when I went home as well. When I got home on the 23rd, I decided to shower immediately (48 hours in the same clothes will do that to ya); I turned on the light to the bathroom and I stared in awe at the size of it for almost a minute. HUGE!!! My toilet in Japan is literally in a water closet sized space; it's separated from the tub and shower which are pretty small too. And you can forget about a bathroom sink; I use the kitchen sink. The biggest shock I had though was about Canadian people in general. When you live in Canada all your life, you really believe the stereotype that we're really nice people. Well, after you live in another country like Japan for 16 months, your perception drastically changes. I won't go into detail because I still love Canada.
All in all the trip was really fun. I got to spend some quality time with my parents, friends and other family members, and I met some people that I hadn't seen in many years, and others for the first time (Laura, Maria, Helen and Dave, yoroshiku onegaishimasu!!).
I look forward to my next visit and I hope I can see you all again then. And hopefully next time I'll bring a close friend of mine with me too (^o^). One can hope, eh?

P.S. some of you might not know this, but if you click on the pictures (all of them on the blog in fact), you can see a much larger image. Hope you enjoy them!!