So since mid-April, it has been getting very warm here in Japan, reaching up to 30 degrees celcius, which has made quite a change in my wardrobe, but also in class.

But despite this hot weather, I have caught a cold since the beginning of class and up to today, my throat still hurts. I've been to the doctor, twice now, and I've been taking loads of medicine but it doesn't seem to get much better.

I also went to go see a dermatologist because I've been getting dark spots on my face. He also gave me medicine, and a few recommendations.

I'm not going to say I am thankful for this, but I'm kind of glad I had the chance to do this. You see, going to the hospital is something we take for granted back at home. But this time, I had to go to a Japanese hospital, alone, and figure everything on my own. I had to fill out papers with characters that I didn't know yet. I had to listen carefully to what the doctor was telling me to make sure I answered correctly.

If I could have avoided the whole thing, I would have, but on the positive side, it gave me an experience while testing, once again, my Japanese.

About two weeks ago, there was an announcement at the end of practice: an offer of a part-time job for the following week's Friday's fourth period. It caught my interest so the next day, I asked the announcer about it. I told him that it might be odd, but I would like to try this job. He said he would enquire if it was possible.

About two days later, he informed me that it would be possible for me to go, but there would be no payment, just food. I told him I would think of it, although I was pretty certain that I would go. After verifying I had nothing that night, I told him I'd join, and on Friday April 17^th, I walked to the front of the university's gymnasium to catch the bus picking us up.

I wasn't the only one going of course, 20 other judo members had also been selected. There were others that had already walked over there. I stopped at the new convenience store near Comsquare (where International Friday Night was held), bought some cough lozenges and masks, and then got ready to ride the bus.

I got a seat near the front, and no one else sat next to me. I guess that has its ups and downs. We were given "bentos" which is the Japanese word for packed lunch, and ate while we received an explanation about our job that day. After confirming with my friend Kato, I found out that our duty that day was to bring a "o-mikoshi", a portable shrine all the way up a mountain, pulling it using ropes, that it would take 3 hours in total, and that some part of the mountain were up to 45˚, which made it fairly steep.


We arrived at the city of Oiso, and were immediately directed to a lounge room to wait until the beginning of the festival, which was about one and a half hour later. We were given cookies, and our outfit for the evening. Everyone then pulled their phones out to relax and chat. I just laid down on my back pack, and grabbed about 20 minutes of sleep. After that, we started getting ready. This was the first time I would wear something like this. I had never really thought much about the outfit before, but it is true that the festival's workers all wear the same thing. I was glad to be able to take part in this. Not many foreigners get to do this, especially be treated like a Japanese and not a foreigner.








Just the first climb up the mountain was ridiculously steep and dangerous. Soon, we got the signal to start and we pulled a little bit on the rope. Now I thought it was going to be much harder, but with the staff there, and everyone, we had quite a lot of breaks. The whole way up, we would pull for about 10 seconds, then wait for 5 minutes. They needed to anchor the ropes all over the place to ensure the safety of the shrine and so that the rope wouldn't get too tangled up. They would called out: "Hippatte!" which I found out means to pull haha, and we would then all pull until we were told to stop. We did this the whole way up.

Now soon, it got really dark, and we couldn't see too much, which made it even more dangerous. You would often hear someone say: "Abunai!" which means dangerous, when they slipped or fell. Some of the old town folks were walking around with head lamps.

The whole thing felt like we were a team, which made it quite cool since like I said before, normally, I never could have been here. Thanks to my effort in class, this is what I get.

At about 5 minutes before reaching the top, the squad stopped us all to take a break. We were given onigiri and water while reporters and cameramen shot reports on the shrine and some of the judo guys. I was probably filmed in the background somewhere, but I didn't bother asking when it would be aired.


After that break, we carried the shrine up the last part of the mountain and the celebration started. They started bouncing the shrine up and down, like they do very often during festivals here in Japan. But what was even cooler is that I got to carry the actual shrine myself and bounce in a circle with everyone! It got quite heavy at one point, but I must say I was quite happy to have done it!

After that, they brought the shrine under a tent, and the formal part of the ceremony started. A man dressed in interesting clothes walked in and out carrying things, saying long monotone sentences which might have been a prayer? Names of the important related people were called out. When this whole thing was happening, I had found a spot higher up a tree so that I could see better. One of the man in front of me gave me a look, and told me to take off the ribbon I had on my head. After that, I looked around, and everyone else had done so already. They must have announced it, but I didn't even catch any of it or noticed when everyone took it off. Maybe it's just a custom during festivals.

Once that was done, we were served champagne, and were soon on our way down the hill. We all grabbed a part of the rope and walked slowly back. This was also dangerous but I made it back without injuries.

We handed the outfits back, and were served a meal. We only had about 20 minutes to eat before the bus left, but it wasn't too bad since I was given two bentos in total, which have since served me as lunch. We were dropped off in front of my dorm, lucky for me, and I walked back home, to my room, feeling accomplished and happy!

So since our kitchen got renovated, new stoves were also installed! I was really excited to use them, yet hadn't paid much attention to them. But when came time to cook for the first time, I was told that my old pans would no longer work on these stoves. They had brought IH stoves (induction heating), which only work with IH pans (which have a special bottom to allow the heat to transfer). I was NOT impressed.

That night, I used my friend Miguel's pan, but the next day I set out to buy my own. Shotaro came to make sure I didn't buy the wrong one. I must say that these pans are not giveaways. They were quite expensive, and I believed it was in my best interest to buy two of them. But at least I had received a pan from the Iwasa's and the Brazilians so I technically never bought my own in the first place. I also took the time to get a better knife to cut vegetables since it was really bothering me and getting dangerous to cut anything.

I ended up getting two pans of my favourite colours. Check 'em out!


Now, when I came to use the stove, I also found out that you can't lift the pan. I had learned from watching my roommate how to stir a pan with the flick of a wrist, and I quite enjoyed it. It saved me time, effort and sometimes having to wash and extra spatula. But now, as soon as you lift the pan off the stove, the heat shuts off.

In other words, my cooking style was forced to change, but I guess it's not too bad. Here's some examples of what I have done so far with these bad boys.

This next semester has now already started. The first week was very easy for me. I had studied ahead of time and most of it I already understood. This gave me time to study extra on my own time with Miguel. We are studying an extra textbook on vocabulary which is made in such a way that we study a certain amount of words per day, take a small test, and do that every day till the 7^th day where there is a test of the past 6 days. It went well for the first week, but this second week has been too busy and we didn't get very far.

Besides that, our listening class is probably the hardest since Miyagi sensei seems very determined to force our ears and minds to adjust to the Japanese language. Nishiyama sensei is quite kind and gentle, and teaches us in a such a simple way so that we can all understand. Yamamori sensei is just as she was last semester, nice, clear, and funny!

I'm really going to push through this semester, because I think if I get to complete the extra two textbooks I'm studying as well as the course, it will go hand-in-hand to benefit me in everything. Already, some of the vocabulary and kanji I studied are coming up in class.

With that being said, I also plan on going hard in judo practice. I really want to rejoin the normal practice, which I have started since the beginning of April, but I'm still quite scared.

Finding a balance and working hard is what I plan on doing during this next semester. Here I go!

On Monday April 6^th, after my morning practice, I went to my guidance class, during which we purchased the two other textbooks I need for class. After that, we were free! Since we already knew the rest of the information, we didn't need to attend the other two guidance classes. And so Miguel invited me to go to the sea with him and Shingo. I wasn't too sure I wanted to go since I did have a practice later that day, but in the end I decided to go.

We all grabbed our bike and headed out to a part of Hiratsuka (the city where I live) that I had never seen before. There were still sakura which made our journey there and back gorgeous. After about a 30 minute bike ride, we arrived at the beach. There were a few people surfing in wet suits. This day had been the warmest day since the end of winter, and so those crazy for the waves had taken the chances to get out there. Miguel had brought a bathing suit, but I had not. But it was really warm, and so not too long after that, Miguel, Shingo and I were all jumping into the waves. This was my second time seeing the ocean in my life, and my first time here in Japan.




I don't know if it was the accumulated stress, or the pressure or being responsible all the time but after about 5 minutes of playing in the waves, I lost myself in the moment. I can honestly say I became a child again, jumping into the waves and letting them carry me back to the shore. I laughed, and laughed, and screamed, and laughed again. Miguel and Shingo were there with me, being smashed by the strength of the waves. I think the waves just helped me wash away the big stress I had been carrying for a while. In that moment, I felt free, which is something I had not experienced in a while.









We ran down the beach, climbed up the side of a small creak leading to a river, started a sand fight and ran some more. Finally, we washed ourselves off, and headed back to the Kaikan. I really have to thank Miguel for that because he always takes me on these odd excursions, but I enjoy them very much. It's something that I wish I could do more often, but going there once was a great experience.