Tsukimi, Opera, People, and Other Fun Stuff

There are so many things I’ve been wanting to write about but haven’t managed to do yet! Unsurprisingly, I find myself super busy with both school and extracurricular activities (which will look good on my college applications, let’s hope).

I’m at school almost every day from 8:00 to 5:30 or 6:00 busy with lesson planning, grading papers, and speech contest preparation. My student won 4^th place in the Takasaki City English Speech Contest, so now he’s on to the Prefectural one, to be held on Wednesday. Even if he doesn’t go to the Central Japan contest, I still feel as proud of him as if I were his mom . . . imagine me the mother of a 5’10” 15-year old Japanese boy. Last year I wasn’t quite so busy, but recently I’ve acquired all sorts of new responsibilities that keep me on the go all day long. I’ll never be able to pass the JLPT at this rate! No study time—!

Since I’m leaving school later, everything else gets pushed back later, too. I won’t show up for my weekly Japanese grammar classes until almost 6:00, when it’s almost full-on dark. And I recently found out the hard way that Costco closes at 8:00, so don’t saunter up to the door at 7:58 expecting to be let in.

It’s not all “work” things, though; I’m enjoying Gunma’s lovely early autumn weather and spending a lot of time with new and old friends.

On the Monday night of the full moon back in September, I joined my Japanese friend Sho, my hippie friend Mark, and some new acquaintances to celebrate “Tsukimi” (月見、Moon Viewing). I’d never heard of it before, but basically, it means just that: looking at the moon. My tsukimi experience was this:

The seven of us (Mark, Sho, a Japanese woman and her 16-year old daughter, an older Japanese gentlemen, a 26-year old Chinese immigrant named Liang, and me) sat in the middle of the Maebashi Baseball Field by the bridge, eating homemade dango and sushi, and telling stories about the moon. We made a fun bunch, ages scattered from 16 to past 65, representing four countries, all speaking in our varying degrees of understandable Japanese—but having a wonderful time munching on peanut butter-flavored dango and talking about rabbits. We sat outside enjoying the beautiful warm evening until almost 10:00, when we headed for home.

I had another internationally-flavored night last Thursday. Free tickets to see the opera “Carmen” were procured by methods I am unaware of but extremely grateful for. A group of us girls put on our elegant dresses and made our way to the stately Maebashi Culture Hall downtown. Imagine the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, but in Maebashi, and you’ll understand. It really was a nice place, and brought back wonderful memories of seeing plays back at home.

I’d never seen the opera before, or heard of the story either, actually. And unfortunately, all of the singing and speaking were in French. There were tall contraptions on either side of the stage where the Japanese translation was digitally flashed, so I spent half of the opera looking at the stage and the singers, and the other half vainly trying to figure out what that kanji meant. I was proud of myself, though, because while I obviously didn’t understand everything that was going on, I did glean enough information to follow the basic story. I knew there was a letter from that guy’s mom, and that he had to go home, but I didn’t figure out he was supposed to marry the girl who gave him the letter until intermission, when I checked my understanding with the fluent Japanese speakers there. So “Carmen” gave me a bit of a headache, what with all that trying to read Japanese and listen in French, but it was a fun experience nonetheless. Next up, to find where to watch the Japanese version of “Les Miserables”!!!  

Finally, on October first, the Shibukawa International Association held its annual International BBQ at a big park in the mountains. I went with an American friend and my new friend Liang from Tsukimi, to join the other American, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Bangladeshi, New Zealander, and South African attendees. Maybe there were more countries represented but I’m not sure. We were put into teams and there we spent the afternoon, socializing, eating yakiniku, yakisoba, and roasted marshmallows. It was super fun. Afterwards, David (age, 29), Liang (age, 26) and I (age, 29) spent about half an hour playing on the playground. You’re never too old for merry-go-rounds and monkey bars, I always say. But you might be too tall . . .

Next post: My Peruvian adventures in Isesaki, from which I am happy to return alive. Talk soon!