So the weather is perfect, the alledged typhoon never materialised (it never does, which is annoying. There’s always so much build-up and nothing comes of it) and my weekend was spent doing almost no relaxing.

Friday night I filled up the shopping trolley/ralley car and drove out to Mihara to get Nick’s signature so we could vote, and together we drank Jim Beam, played Everybody’s Golf 3 on Playstation and ate pizza. It’s good to occasionally go to places smaller than Shimizu- just to know they exist. In contrast to Mihara Shimizu is loud, cramped and busy. This is the reason I couldn’t sleep when I was in Fukuoka; it was just too loud- also hot. Also there was a construction site across the road.

On the drive back to Nakamura we took a wrong turn looking for a dam we knew existed but we weren’t sure where. It turns out it was the turn off after the tunnel, not before. In the end we drove down a tiny road, passed a nine hole golf course (beautiful and incredibly cheap, even by Australian standards)  and stopped off at a picnic spot with gardens and a maze that had become overgrown and was blocked by a wall of spiderwebs. After the drive to Nakamura and Mister Donut for breakfast I stopped off at the video store to pick up the videos 智美 reccommended. One of them, ジョぜと虎と魚たち, I was watching this morning, and wanted to finish but I didn’t want to be late for work.The IMDB Page has no plot synopsis and only the keywords ’sex scene, breasts, female nudity, based on a novel’ which kind of scared me- so often at the video store I pick up a movie, thinking it looks interesting and while looking on the back to see if it has English subtitles I see the back cover photos are kind of…odd – there seems to be a very thin line between drama and pornography here- and this is without even venturing into the curtained-off section of the video store- I’ve never been in there, but I’ve heard stories.

But no, the movie’s really good. The fact that 智美 reccommended it in the same email she reccommended ‘y tu mama tambien’ and ‘garden state’ is the reason I hired it, despite being too busy to take Chan up on his offer for an eggplant curry anytime soon. I figured I’d find the time even if it was between six and eight on a monday morning.

On the drive home  from Nakamura I stopped at Ohki beach (because the weather was so perfect and I always keep bathers, a towel and sunscreen in my car for that reason. Also a futon) for a swim and lunch, because I like the restaurant there, and they understand that fish flakes and fish stock are made of fish. After that I drove back to Shimizu, just in time for the tea ceremony, which was in the park behind the library, which was just so perfect, even though I misunderstood and left during the break halfway through, instead of staying for the part where the kids perform the ceremony themselves. After finally shopping (Doraemon was getting really hungry) borrowing money off Chan because I forgot I bought petrol on Friday I drove out to Souro to see the festival- I hate being put in the position where I have to choose between invitations, especially when I feel like I’m being pressured.

So after the festival we went in to Souro elementary, on a Saturday night, and the deputy principal made me spaghetti and miso soup, and then, along with two elementary school boys we went to the river and pulled nets out of the water, full of fish. I just watched- I found it kind of horrible, and we all went back to the school, and I watched TV while the others skinned and fried the fish, and tried to convince me that sausages aren’t meat. The other guys slept in the Japanese style room at the school (and this is, for some reason, not odd) and I drove home and slept, only to do it again on Saturday at the Kagumi Matsuri, the culture festival, more pizza for lunch, and then a pretty vague attempt at Japanese study.

And oh, I checked back and the IMDB page does have more details. A decent review too. I might have to buy the book…I buy too many books…far more than I can ever read…but they’re so cheap!