… Japan has some weird Halloween costumes…

I don’t know what to say tonight. I feel like I have been inundated with awesome pictures and videos from home this past week. Hurricane Gonzalo came past the east coast and perfect weather on shore set up for some amazing surf in the OBX. This morning I woke up to a picture message from a friend showing off a few really nice striper he caught that afternoon. Then tonight as I am leaving work, my best friend Luke sends me some videos and pictures from his morning hunt where he hit a nice buck and had a few other big boys walk in on him. Not to mention all the pics from Ravens games and fall bonfires I have been seeing online. I vented a bit about my autumn FOMO (fear of missing out) to my picture messaging friends, and they helped me get my mind back to where it should be, but fall is my favorite season, and I am beginning to realize now that it isn’t just because of the weather.

Overall, my week was pretty good. Nothing much happened at work.

On Sunday we had to “work” a half day because we were hosting a speech contest and a Halloween party for the kids students. It was pretty relaxed and I think things went well.

Despite the looming “workday” coming the following day, Elizabeth and I decided to go to Osaka on Saturday night to explore the Halloween festivities. We got there around 9 and chilled out with some friends on the Dotonbori bridge -a very busy area in the down town area- for a while watching everyone walk by in their costumes, and admiring the new Glico man -a recently upgraded version of a major tourist attraction in Osaka. I had no costume, but wore the only Halloween colored shirt I had. The shirt just so happened to be a Jaegermiester shirt. My friends convinced me to go to the Donkey-Hotay store a block away and complete my “costume” with a small bottle of Jeager, and some Jeager paraphernalia. I gave away most of the contents of the bottle since I was concerned about making it home, but it was nice not to be hassled for not having a proper costume…aaahhhhh peer pressure… After a bit more adventuring around down town, which included a short ride in the back of a lo-rider pick up (which bottomed out when I got in) and a run in with one of my students, I made it to the last train home.

The next morning was pretty chill. I got to work early and had nothing to do for the first hour or so. Everyone else seemed to be very busy. I was offering to help however I could but no one seemed to need me so I just ended up hanging out. Asuka, the assistant manager who left the office a few months ago came back for the afternoon events, so I ended up catching up with her a bit which was nice.

The speech contest went well. I just hung out in the back row and tried to help get chairs for whoever needed them. Basically, I just hung out and watched the speeches though.

We had lunch and then had to be back for the “Halloween Party”. I was pressured into wearing an extremely weird pink outfit which I thought was a pig, but was then told it was a bear (I am still not sure). It had some red blobs on it that looked like they were meant to be blood, but otherwise it seemed to be a very happy and kid friendly costume…. It was just weird. The kids loved it though, and all the parents seemed to get a kick out of it too. I was pretty hot in it, but not all that embarrassed. Honestly I really wasn’t happy about wearing it at first, but in the end it was all good, the kids really seemed to like it and that made everyone else happy so I guess that is good enough.

During the Halloween party, I had a short activity session/class with a small group of kids, and then I had to give out gift bags when the kids came to my room to “trick or treat”. After that we all took pictures and everyone left. I was finally able to take off the costume.

All the coworkers went out for yakiniku after the party. It was pretty delicious. After that we headed to Osaka for  a drink. We went to a really posh area and drank some wine. It was nice but I felt like such a yuppie.

Again, I caught the last train home, which seemed much longer than the previous nights ride. When I got home, I showered and had a snack while watching the football games. Unfortunately, the Ravens lost and I stayed up until 430am for nothing…

On Monday, I couldn’t sleep in so I cleaned my place and then went to the gym. The guys there hadn’t seen me in a while so they welcomed me kindly. I stayed for a while, and left completely beat. It was good.

After working out I really wanted ramen, but every ramen shop in town seemed to be closed on Monday afternoon, so I settled for instant ramen…

Later I met up with Koichi and got some dinner with him. He gave me back some things I left in his bag the week before when we went to the concert.

Today I had normal classes. It was a normal day for the most part.

…..And that was my week. The most exciting thing has been the hunting videos Luke sent me. Hopefully next week I will have some better things to share. I leave for Okinawa on Sunday morning for 3 days. Hopefully I will be able to catch some surf down there. Everything else is good. I am still missing East Coast fall activities, but I am making sure not to take my time here for granted. I hope everyone else is enjoying the season. Thanks for reading. have a great week.