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Woohoo! It's the weekend! I thought on Friday night. It was a hard week full of speech competitions, lessons where I didn't know what was going on, and late nights playing with my new Mac; so I had been yearning for a much needed rest and a little bit of an escape.
What the heck have I gotten myself into. It's only been two weeks, and I dunno if I like this 'teaching English' buzz at all. I stripped off my work clothes which were sticky from the sweat and humidity of the day. The school isn't air-conditioned and the Teachers Room in particular feels like a great big glass house without any breeze. After 10 lessons over the week of not being able to understand what myself and my co-teacher were actually teaching, I felt exhausted mentally and didn't even want to move my mind any further than I had to. Now wrapped in my lavalava and air-con blasting, I made my way into the kitchen to throw a few vegetables into the fry pan and wash the few dishes I have to eat off. Plans began to run through my head. Train leaves at 8.29am, so I want to leave the apartment at 8am just in case. I'll need clothes to wear tomorrow during the day, tomorrow night when we go out clubbing and then on Sunday. Big pack or little pack? Have to see how many things I need to take. Wonder if I need a towel.. might just take a little one..
Tomorrow was The Sendai Jazz Festival and I would be meeting other ALT's from Fukushima on the train to spend the weekend escaping all of our tiny towns. Jazz would be playing along some of the main streets of Sendai, stalls of food and souveniors, and ofcourse, drinking. I couldn't think of anything better to get over the disapointment of realising that I was being created into a real life tape recorder at the school I was teaching at. After eating my stirfry vege's and chatting to Sifa online, I played on some of my net pages and then hit the sack, feeling as if I wouldn't be able to lift my head if my life depended on it.
'swish, swish.' 'swish, swish.' 'bluh bluh bluh.' 'swish, swish'.
ugh, shhhhhhhh. toooooo tirrrreeeddd... It's about 5am. I know this because it happens every morning. The sun starts to rise and the old lady next door is up and rearing to go. Moving around on the gravel outside my bedroom and fulling her water containers up for watering her plants. Soon, she'll start on the plastic bags and then there'll be no point in me pretending that I will be able to sleep in a little more. With a sigh, I pull myself up and drag my feet to the shower, only to stand there under the water for a little longer washing away the early morning rise. For the umpteenth time I curse myself for staying up late and vow to go to sleep earlier next week - after this weekend.
Toothbrush, toothpaste, make up, moisteriser, camera, cellphone, wallet, dictionary.... Checking and re-checking what I am taking and what time I am leaving. It's gonna be a good weekend.
It takes about 2 1/2 hours on the train with one change over on the way to get to Sendai and at several stops, one of us jumps out to call out to another ALT that have just joined us from their towns. These are the Fukushima Coast ALTS and JETS. Lively bunch of young adults who, from all walks of life have found their path leading them here to settle for a year or two or four. They're Australian, American, Canadian, Hawaiian, British.. all of them focussed on the same goal of living - indeed experiencing, and working in Japan.
From the air-con of the train to the heat and humidity of Sendai was a blast in the face and sweat already began to bead on my forehead. I could feel my body immediately beginning to stick to my clothes. Sooo should have chosen that skirt instead of these 3/4 pants. The train station was packed, so we ditched our bags in a locker and got out as fast as possible - meeting up with other ALTS on the way.
We walked along the streets of Sendai towards the festival. People were every where and there are so many shops and malls and tall buildings along every street. The last time I was here, there were streams and streams of decorations throughout the high ceilings of the malls for the Tanabata Festival, but they had long been taken down and now the area above gave a feeling of too much space in comparison. There seemed to be a lot of people heading in the same direction as us, so we just merged with the crowd and slipped along, waiting in atnicipation for the sound of instruments beating and voices singing.
ugh, I need a drink. Too many people and too much anxiety. Not knowing where I was nor where we were going, I was beginning to tire of walking but said nothing of it - knowing that it wouldn't be too far. Sure enough, crossing through a few open malls and crossroads, we came to a street that was barriered off from vehicles today. Trees grew in the middle of the road on a long island the length of a block and a path separated the trees in the middle. Bands were playing so loud that although we were beside one band, we could hear the other bands that were down the road further. Large crowds of Japanese had already been drawn to the music and were standing or sitting around most of the bands. yeeya, an advantage to being a gaijn! I can see! hehe... Most people could only glimpse at the musicians - an advantage to being taller than the average Japanese - although you stand out, you also can see.
Musicians were playing Japanese style instruments as well as the classic jazz guitar, saxaphone, trumpet, cello and piano. Some were singing in Japanese, others in English. Most of them had a great beat and rhythm to their music - even though half of it didn't really seem very Jazz-like.
Hey, hang on. This is weird. How come there's no noise. Where is the cheering, the whistling, the clapping to the rhythm and talking to each other over the music? Why isn't any one dancing? People are hardly moving to the music!! As we looked around, I realised that there were no one 'misbehaving' at all. There didn't even seem to be much enjoyment in the crowds. People were watching silently to the music and then clapping in a polite slow clap. What a stink! What happens when they like the music? How is the musician feeding off a crowd like this? Questions began to build up in my head about the differences between our cultures and what I was meant to do if I liked the music. Oh, man. I'm gonna have to refrain huh. so much for letting go!
But as the day wore on and the drinks continued to be poured, it didn't seem to matter that much if we were the only ones cheering at the back or talking over the music. Races over the pedestrian crossing were challenged and taken up, favourite drinking stalls chosen and even a little bit of dancing. We drank and listened to the music, ate from the stalls and talked to strange old Japanese men who took a liking to our difference. Attempting to avoid the sorching sun over the day meant shading it up when we could, most of the bands were singing in the sun and the crowd endured the heat to gather around them, but we hung back, closer to the shade of trees or buildings. The day moved through to the night and bringing with it a very laid-back dinner in a pasta restuarant with seven tired patrons seeking energy for the night events to come. On and on we pushed, pausing to shower, change clothes and grab energy drinks. 10pm turned into 3am and with sore feet and closing eyelids, a taxi was sought for solice on the tatami mats in our youth hostel.
The next day brought with it further Jazz events, shopping and more drinking. We were all very tired by the time we caught the 6.30pm train home, laden with new purchases and happy souls. All of us had to work tomorrow, of which none of us were keen on. Our connecting train never met us so frantic phone calls to friends were made and we were rescued by a fellow ALT. I got home at 10.30pm and crashed - great weekend.
'swish, swish.' 'swish, swish.' 'bluh bluh bluh.' 'swish, swish'. It's 5am already? Damn you old lady, gimme 5 more minutes..
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