Today was a holiday! So me, Kaori, Nathan, Hugh and his girlfriend Mako, a UFO student Fuuko and her boyfriend, all went hiking up Monjuusan. We were gone from about 9:30-1:30, I estimate the hike was a 2.5 hr one, but it’s hard to tell. The people who make hiking trails in Japan don’t believe in switchbacks — the quickest way up is a straight line, ne?
Since it was an event, there were a lot of people. We had little maps that we got stamped when we reached checkpoints :)
Here we are, behind us a view of Sabae! (though you can’t see it)
I love the forests in Japan. The trees are huge and beautiful. Here there were tons of flowers too, especially tsubaki (camellia).
On our return, we had a UFO barbecue. It was really nice. Ishimoto-sensei brought the grill and ingredients, Yuka cooked the meat, so we had lots of steak :) also yakisoba, hot dogs (well, sausages on rolls), tomatoes, onions, salad, chips, etc. That was pretty fun.
Afterwards, a few of us went for a walk, stopped by the river and ate snacks and watched the birds fly overhead and sun not sink down. (Time stopped?)
New words:
mabuta (瞼) = eyelid
mayuge (眉毛) = eyebrow
matsuge = eyelash
hiji = elbow
kiji (雉) = pheasant
kyouryuu (恐竜) = dinosaur (lit. fearful dragon)
dobu (溝) = gutter (also mizo)
doro (泥) = mud
kogeru (焦げる) = to burn (kagekusai = burning stench)
tokage = lizard
kamome = seagull (note to Mia: umineko is black-tailed gull)
Suddenly this children’s song makes much more sense:
Kamome no Suiheisan (Seagull Sailors)
かもめの水兵さん
ならんだ水兵さん
白い帽子 白いシャツ 白い服
波にチャップ チャップ うかんでる
かもめの水兵さん
かけあし水兵さん
白い帽子 白いシャツ 白い服
波をチャップ チャップ 越えてゆく
かもめの水兵さん
ずぶぬれ水兵さん
白い帽子 白いシャツ 白い服
波でチャップ チャップ おせんたく
かもめの水兵さん
なかよし水兵さん
白い帽子 白いシャツ 白い服
波にチャップ チャップ 揺れている
Oh yea, that song makes total sense, now! I'm impressed you can write it all in Konji (right?).
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun hike, though that straight up stuff would be hard on my knees. I went skiing today, in very sticky stuff, but was able to get someone else to take over the tennis for me tonight. My quads are burning! How are you feeling after your hike? You'll be in great shape when we see you!
O yasumi nasai.
Kanji desu :)
DeleteIt is hard on the knees. They like to put steps in too so it's like going up lots of stairs. Knee graveyard.
Since we walked later in the day, I don't feel it at all from the hike. I might be in great shape if I could keep away from the baked goods. I've snacked more in this last month than I have in my life.
Well, while it's all new, you should see and try everything! But you still look great, so you can't be overdoing it too much.
DeleteI'm trying to learn skoshi nihongo. But jouzu jarimasen!
ps thanks for the link on Golden Week. Interesting history.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even realize you put a link for golden week, I just wondered a little why it was written in yellow and came to the conclusion that you were showing it was golden week by making the font for holiday yellow.
ReplyDeleteHi, I have no idea how I found your blog, but noticed you working/worked for UFO Academy. I really want to go back to Japan to teach English/learn Japanese and saw on Gaijin that the school is recruiting new teacher. I was wondering how your experience has been. Anything I should know about. Really appreciate your opinion.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Jeff
Hi Jeff, I really enjoyed my time in Japan. UFO Academy is a nice choice if you don't mind being away from the big cities (which I liked). They provide apartment and car, which is nice. They are old apartments and old cars but not bad.
DeleteIt's a small company so the organization can be... trying. You'll find yourself in and out of classes (and driving a LOT) from early morning to late night, and these classes you will be organizing, planning, and teaching by yourself. I found it exhausting sometimes. But the UFO people are nice, the classes can be a lot of fun, the pay seemed reasonable to me, and Sabae is a nice place to be. You get two full weeks off (one for Obon, one at New Years) and plenty of 3-day weekends (as long as you don't have the Saturday schedule) so it's pretty easy to do some traveling.
As long as you can deal with the hectic schedule, I think it's a great place to go. I was there a year, but if not for other factors I would have chosen 2 years.
Hope that helps!