Hey Everybody. Sorry for all these Tuesday posts. I was doing well with posting every Monday, but the past two weekends I have had things to do on Monday nights so the blog has to be pushed until the following night. I am sure you have all been really distraught over this, so I just wanted to take a moment to apologize to “all” of my faithful readers….
Really though, things keep popping up during my normally scheduled “Blog time”. Last week I had some friends over for dinner at my place, and this last night I ended up going out for dinner. Last week was pretty simple, I learned how to make some Japanese pork dish, it was good, and not too difficult to make. Definitely a recipe I will bring home to share. Last night my buddy Koichi called me as I was leaving my boxing session and said he was hungry and didn’t want to cook for himself. I was just thinking about how I didn’t really feel like cooking either so his timing was perfect. We went out to what has become my favorite restaurant in Japan so far. I don’t remember the exact name of the restaurant but it is amazing. All you can eat yakiniku (grilled meat). It is pretty close to my apartment, maybe a twenty five minute walk or 10 minutes by car. I have been there a few times now and I have enjoyed it immensely every time. We order a ton of raw meat of all different types and grill it ourselves, on a grill which is in the center of our table. I think I have mentioned it before, but this place is worth talking about. They have all different cuts of beef, pork, chicken, and some vegetables as well. We always start with some cow tongue, which is surprisingly delicious. I tried it as an experiment the first time, but now I like it so much I request it every time we go. We then ordered plate after plate of steak of all different cuts, some marinated, some not. Most of the meat is expertly trimmed into bite sized pieces, so it cooks pretty fast and you can just pop it in your mouth hot off the grill, or dip it in a sauce first. No knife needed. It is amazing… obviously… it is all you can eat steak… Got my PROTEIN fix to start the week off right!!!!
Last week at school was pretty relaxing. I think I got a little too comfortable with the whole “no lesson week” thing. Today I was almost mad when I was walking into my first lesson of the day, and it is usually one of my favorite classes. Last week was just so peaceful, no little kids running around screaming or bullying me; no coworkers stressing out about anything, just calm. I worked on planning some lessons, and some other side projects we had to finish up. I also had a few meetings with some students and parents, as well as a handful of private lessons (which are usually very stress free), but over all it was much more relaxed than any normal week. I usually go to my classroom to do most of my planning with minimal distraction, but last week I felt more like I was hiding in my room making up things to keep myself busy. I almost finished an entire crossword puzzle as a matter of fact… of course that was all done during my break time…. 😉
The weekend wasn’t the greatest ever but I had fun. I went to Osaka on Saturday night and didn’t really sleep much at all. Sunday we had a water gun fight in the park. It was fun, but I was dead tired, and after getting soaked in the fight I started to get really cold as the sun went down. For the last hour or so I was just sitting being a grouch, cold, hungry, and tired. After the fight we all went back to Claudia’s for dinner… I had to cook though. I made chicken parmesan. It wasn’t my best performance but everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was nice to cook in a legit kitchen, but I was really tired, and didn’t enjoy it as much as I may have if I wasn’t so dead.
After the dinner I headed home. It was so nice to finally get into my bed. I slept for almost 11 hours, then laid around my apartment the next morning until I finally motivated myself to clean it. I managed to make it to the boxing gym. It was crowded when I got there but I ended up staying for longer than I had any of the times I had been before. I was pushing myself kind of hard. I really needed to sweat out all the weekends regrets.
The workout was just what I needed though. I really like the training I do there. I am really looking forward to sparring for the first time, but I have not been able to yet. I am still having trouble with communication, but the trainers are getting familiar with me. They seem to always be laughing at me for whatever reason. They have some criticisms for me, but mostly they say I am doing well. I think they just think it is funny that there is a random white dude working out there who cant even speak to anyone. I usually end up laughing with them as well, I cant help it either. I get looks from other people working out there too, but everyone is friendly. Some try to speak English to me, but no one has really talked to me yet. The most English I hear is “good” “stop” and “strong” the rest of our communication is just body language, some random shouting sounds, and a few Japanese words I have been able to pick up. I am really starting to look forward to my time there every week. I just need to go earlier in the day before it gets really crowded. As soon as school lets out and people start leaving work, it gets crowded pretty fast.
That is pretty much it for this past week. This morning I woke up early (7am) to watch the USA World Cup game. I set my alarm for 7am and woke up immediately when it went off. I turned on the TV, and as soon as I found the right channel I saw Dempsey’s goal go in. We ended up winning 2-1 despite some lopsided stats. I am happy though, it was a good way to start the day. We play again on Monday at 7am. This time I will be able to go back to sleep after the game :).
I hope everyone has a good week this week. June 20th is this Thursday. That will be my quarter completion mark for my current contract. I have been thinking of doing a quarterly review of my time here for next weeks blog. Some more about my overall opinion of how things have been going since my arrival in Japan. Be sure to stay tuned! As always, thanks for reading.
Rob – Years ago you and your family went to a restaurant in Towson known as NICHEIBIKAI (?) just like the one you described – lots of meat you cook yourself. You liked it then a sounds like you still do. MON or TUES we don’t care when you post yours as the int’t date line gets in the way! Keep them coming. G-dad
I don’t think I remember that restaurant. I was thinking if there was one close to home I would definitely be a regular. Thanks for reading. I hope you and Grams are doing well. The dress clothes have been getting a lot of use. Thank you!