I suck!

Ok, so. I haven’t done this in way too long. I’m sorry. Hum… I wrote a bit about “German night” a while ago… But never got around to actually uploading it. Here’s that particular blog…

Tuesday - Ok, well Tuesday was hilariously surreal. After I did buffet stuff, loads of people finished their shifts and went home so it was just me, Tomo and Masaki-san. Then Tomo went to the office and Masaki-san dissapeared off somewhere... So I was left all on my own in the refectory, changing the roses. So I put on some Jpop and just chilled out. Occasionally people would walk through... A few times I saw Masaki-san running past... Then there was a phone call at the refectory, someone asking for Masaki-san and I was like "um... I'm not sure where he is..." Had a quick look around for him, but failed... After an hour it came to my lunch break... But there was nobody around to get permission from. But I figured I'd already done everything that needed to be done, so I wrote a note saying that's where I'd gone and left.
When I came back I quickly counted who was there... And realised I was the only gaijin. This meant I had to do guest control. Basically, with guest control you give a speech welcoming everyone in, telling them where the food is and where to put dirty stuff afterwards. Then you guide them in and just make sure they're all safe and happy. This was a new group as well, which meant I had to do a full speech.
"Good evening, welcome to the refectory. For dinner we are serving buffet, including 6 different kinds of hot foods, salad and soup. There are drinks here and when you have finished please take everything to the wash room (and for some reason I always say "on my right"... Even if it's very not on my right!!!)"
So, I'm there, letting groups in, using the crazy map drawn for me by their teachers (they wanted me to send in 3 boys... THEN about 15 girls... Seperately! WHY?!)... The first time I did it I found it hilarious as I had a table of boys and they were all cheering and being silly teenage boys.
Oh yes, then Masaki-san appeared and was like "hey Faye, we're doing service upstairs tonight... They'll be here in a few minutes. Now, carry on sending guests in!" WHAT?! They'll be here in a few minutes! I've had no time to prepare, I don't know what's on the menu, I haven't lit any candles or done any drinks or anything! And now I'm doing two peoples jobs?!
By the last table I wanted to just hide. The last table was the worst. They'd been waiting for ages (because of the crazy order I was supposed to send the groups in by) so when I finally arrived they all cheered... Then they started perving on me and whistling and stuff... Which was horrifically disturbing... One even shouted "dance!"... So I welcome them in and then get on with restocking the drinks. The boys by the door were horrific "hey, do you have a boyfriend?", "how old are you?", pervy eyes, pervy eyes. So I went and hid behind the barrier, under the pretence of drinking lots of water.
Then my guests arrived. I always find service stressfull as I've still not fully got the hang of it... So I keep clearing from the left or serving from the right, or I drop the bread or I burn myself on the plates, so I jump and the food moves around on the plate and looks less beautiful. But I'm learning... Thankfully this group was the guy who's been eating here all week and sat with me in the pub for a bit, watching me revise with some vague interest. He was there with a work colleague and someone who works at BH.
It wasn't so bad. They all know I've only been here a few weeks so everyone was very nice to me and I even got given a taste of the beef and at one point Masaki san excitedly called me over to try some delicious dessert wine... Oh, that man loves wine... And dessert... It was good... And went straight to my head... (apparently the altitude makes it easier to get drunk up here).
When I got back I found nobody was in the house and the living room was tidy and completely changed around, the TV had gone and there were several more sofa's and tables and there was a hell of a lot more room than I thought there was. I felt so confused, I was slightly drunk and things were different... So I freaked out a bit.
After I'd recovered, finding that James and Dennis had spent the whole day making it look beautiful for German night, loads of people came over. It was an amazingly fun night, Dennis had made a load of really good German food, loads of people were there, laughing, having fun, I was drinking wine out of a bowl (Yuki then told me that her Grandmother used to do the same, apparently. There you go). I loved that night. After loads of people went home I went outside and played in the snow for a bit... Actually... I spent the next two-three hours in the snow, building an epic snowman!! Pictures are on facebook. After that I went inside and sat next to my heater after the cold had sent me quite insane... I should wear more than jeans and a thin jumper next time I spend hours in the snow. That was a VERY weird day...

Since then a lot has happened. However, I can’t remember most of it. It’s all been a bit of a blur since I’ve arrived here really. I was reading some of my blogs back earlier and none of it seems real really.

Ok, so memorable things that have happened recently… Becoming poor in one day, Aizu, staff party, new people, speed dating… I’m sure other stuff has happened, but I way can’t remember.

So I’ll start with the day I spent all my money -
I had a day off when very few other people did, so I decided to spend the day shopping in Shirakawa on my own. I wrote myself a good, long shopping list and packed my camera and a simple map of Shirakawa. It was a really good day (even though my camera batteries ran out). I really enjoyed just walking around, at my own pace, completely relaxing, not worrying about annoying whoever was with me by my slow pace of shopping or my inability to concentrate on one thing. I had a good, long look around the clothes shops in my hunt for a warm coat and new boots. Japan has amazing shoes. Seriously, I saw so many amazing styles of shoes and boots you’d just never see in England. There were a few that I really wanted to buy because of how awesome they were, but I knew I’d just never wear them. Even though I never found a good pair of boots, I did find a nice coat. It’s nothing amazing (which it should be, considering how much I spent on it), but it’s warm and is quite smart, so I suppose I can’t complain too much. I bought a load of stuff for the kitchen and some baking stuff, as well as a big map of the world (it was only 100 yen, so…). Yeah… When I got home, I had a look through all my stuff, then in my purse. I was horrified to find I only had 6000 yen left (around £30... Although the exchange rate’s changed now that Japan’s gone into recession, which is annoying and confusing!). So yeah… That was about… 5 days after my pay day… I blame it on the fact that I had an advance on my wages so they were reduced that month. It was a good day though, I enjoyed it.

Ok… On to Aizu - The original plan was to go down to Koriyama with Helen, Yuta and Ayano. But that morning Ayano said she was too scared to go in the car with Yuta as there was a little bit of snow and she’s still shaken up from the crash… So as Helen, Yuta and I left for Koriyama Yuta was like “I don’t know how to get to Koriyama”… So we went to Aizu instead, which is his home town, and about an hour away from Koriyama. We went into this massive Avail (a clothes shop)… The one in Aizu is way bigger and better in Aizu than in Shirakawa. There was a little bit attached, full of adorable house things. I didn’t buy anything from there though, because I’m poor (this has been my excuse for not doing many things… Also, my excuse for complaining). We then checked out a few other shops and stopped for curry. I loved Japanese curry, it‘s got the perfect amount of spice in for my tastes (not much)… I had cheese curry, which is the weirdest thing ever, but quite nice. Yuta then went on a new phone hunt because his old one was broken (I’m pretty sure I’m the one broke it… Whoops.). Japanese phones are amazing. So many strange, amazing gadgets and stuff… They spin and flip in ways I never imagined possible. After about 30 minutes of talking to some woman he found out that he needs his mom there with him (because being 19 still makes you a child in Japan). So he told his mom and we continued shopping. He then met his mom in a different phone shop and we waited there for another hour and a half!! Why it took an hour and a half to buy a new phone, I have no idea… We met his 6 year old brother though, who’s adorable. He spent the whole time in the “kids corner”, jumping around, entertaining me and Helen, giggling insanely. I really wanted to sit and play with him (I actually miss working with kids), but my head was exploding…. I don’t know why I keep getting these headaches, but it‘s so annoying! (I blame mom‘s genes).
After he eventually bought a phone, Yuta apologised so much… Seriously, he wouldn’t stop. He then bought us doughnuts. His mom also bought some beautiful boxes of chocolates for us. We then went to this big shopping centre, that looked really cute… I think there were lots of floors, although Yuta only took us to one. If I go again, I’ll definitely check out all the floors. I bought an apron for when I cook and clean. It’s a proper Japanese housewife apron with the strip of fabric on the back and the button… I don’t know how to describe it… But you always see them in anime’s and drama’s.
I can’t remember a lot more of the day. I bought some more baking stuff… Mainly stuff that was too heavy to carry in Shirakawa (milk, flour, butter etc). Baking keeps me sane here. Oh yeah, did I mention that Nami got our oven fixed? Yeah, we love Nami, she’s so lovely.

On the 10th of December, there were absolutely no guest bookings, so Masaki-san organised a staff party. We had to pay 1000 yen per person and then people would go shopping for food and drinks and we would have the party in one of the rooms in the castle. This just happened to be the same day that new people were arriving.
So in the morning of December the 10th, about 10 minutes after I woke up I had Yasu banging on my door, telling me that we were going shopping. I had no idea that I was going to be one of the people shopping for supplies, but apparently I was. Apparently Yasu had called Yuta and Yukina at about 9am telling them as well. Yasu normally stays up until stupid o’clock drinking, so where he got all this energy from, so early in the morning, I have no idea.
Yasu drove us all down to Shirakawa and Yukina had all the money people had given her. The whole time Yukina, Yasu and Yuta (am I the only one amused by the fact that their names all begin with Y?) talked to each other in Japanese, which was way fun. I love just sitting and listening to Japanese, even though I rarely know what they’re saying. When we got back I helped Yasu take all the stuff to the party room. Oh god, the rooms in the castle are amazing! They spend most of the year being unused and they’re so beautiful. They’re basically small apartments with a living room, a kitchen, a huge bathroom, two bedrooms and a small tatami-mat covered room which just looks generically Japanese and so pretty. I complained a lot, saying that it should be staff house! I still think it should be.
Anyway, I had decided to make Cornish pasties following a conversation a few days before in which (I think) Mel and I were trying to describe them to Japanese staff. Once we got back, I got stuck straight in to making pastry. I briefly met Lawrence (one of the new guys) as I ran up to my room, to get my apron.
I’ve got to say, my pastry was pretty good, I accidentally put too much water in, so tried to save it by putting more flour in. Once I got it out of the fridge though, it seemed to have fixed itself and was a beautiful consistency, strong and stretchy and soft and just generally awesome. I may make some more pastry at some point… Maybe make a pie or something… I also make some cornflake cakes using the spare cereal I’d saved from the refectory (Yasu had been saving leftover cereal for ages, but did nothing with them, so they were going to throw them away. I wouldn’t let them.)
When I got the party, loads of people were already sat around, relaxing, drinking. It was so nice. There were two tables pushed together with alcohol and food ready to be consumed. I was welcomed in by Masaki-san and they all made a big fuss of the pasties, it made me feel so happy. Japanese people are so nice like that. Masaki-san took the first pasty and very carefully cut it open with his chopsticks, it was so funny watching him trying to pick up half a pasty with his chopsticks. I explained that it should be eaten with your hands, then tried to imagine Cornish miners sat there, in the mines, eating their pasties with chopsticks. Very fun.
It was a good night all around. I drank some of James’ wine… Which came in a MASSIVE bottle and apparently was very, very cheap… It tasted it too. I then had some nice wine. At this point I was at that happy state of drunk, where everything feels relaxed and there’s a faint buzzing somewhere in the back of your head. I hadn’t had alcohol for a long time before this, so it didn’t take long to get there. I then played some cards in the tatami room before getting bored and wandering off. I then tried to find the toilet, which was hilarious and bizarre. I entered one room, saw tiled walls, a sink and assumed it was the toilet. I locked the door… And then looked for an actual toilet… There was none… In my semi-drunk state this was very, very confusing… So I went back into the hallway and just stood there, feeling confused… I had a good look in every room (even in a cupboard in the bedroom), before eventually finding it.
I also met James that night. New James, that is. Old James now goes by Whiteside (his last name) or Shirakawa-san (because the kanji in shira means white… And kawa means river… I don’t know why that works… But it’s the name of the nearest town so…). Anyway, before long I found myself the only gaijin surrounded by Japanese people. All sat there, watching some Japanese comedy… I had no idea what was going on, they all talked too quickly. If I laughed at the same time as the Japanese people, I’d have no idea whether it was at the same thing and if I found something funny, but nobody else was laughing, I’d feel really hesitant to laugh. It was still fun though… As I said, I really enjoy being the only gaijin with Japanese people… It’s such a beautiful language to just sit and listen to. I’ve realised, it’s really pouty too. A lot of the words require you to pout a lot when you speak because there are so many vowel endings, I assume.
After I started getting tired, I quickly helped clear up and did some washing (also broke a glass… Somehow…). As I was leaving, I suddenly felt really woken up by the night air. It was about 11:30pm at this point. I got to the end of the path leaving the castle, which led on to the main road. If I turned right I would head back towards the main part of BH, with the manor house, guest houses and staff house… If I turned left I would go towards the pavilion and to the “Georgian garden”. After a few seconds of deliberating, I decided it would be more fun to go on a walk through the wilderness of British Hills in the middle of the night. So I went left. It’s so creepy in the middle of the night. The trees were bare and the branches looked like long, thin hands silhouetted against the deep orange sky. The ground was so soft and I could hardly see what was ahead of me. At one point I saw a row of young evergreen trees that actually made me jump because they looked kind of like small people in the darkness. I watched them suspiciously for a few minutes before throwing myself down a steep slope. I then travelled into the depths of the forest behind the staff residence. It was so good, all the spiky trees clawing at my arms. It was absolutely silent and there was some mist forming… It was so amazingly atmospheric, I want to do that again some time.
I finally got back at about 1am, desperate to learn Japanese. It was such a good day.

Hm... New people are awesome. We've got Lawrence, Phil's friend. Jess, Mel's friend and new James, who didn't have any friends here until he arrived. They're all really lovely people. I think I get on well with all of them. Although Jess won't be staying for long, which makes me kind of sad, she's really sweet.

Ok, so apparently the Japanese government has a special initiative in which it sets up "speed dating" events in rural area's, like this, in an attempt best described to me by Nolan as "to encourage them to breed!" They were holding one of these events at British Hills... It was awesome. They set up the library with several tables and chairs, with candles and Christmas trees and a buffet table. Lawrence and I were the gaijin assigned to that area. It was way awesome! Because the people at this event weren't guests, they generally couldn't speak any English, so I got an amazing chance to use my Japanese (we're not supposed to speak Japanese to guests...). Hm... Rather than go into every detail, I'll skim over the highlights.
They had two (apparently well known) comedeans there talking really quickly to eachother through microphones, making people laugh. They were speaking far too quickly for me to even guess what they were saying. Then one of them turned to me and was like "Heart? Is it heart?" I assumed he was asking if he was saying it right, so I nodded... But I still have no idea... Then the other one was like "give me your e-mail address!!" (In Japan, that's like your phone number, they e-mail instead of text on phones) I was hoping I'd missheard him... But then Yasu started laughing at me and was like "he wants your e-mail Faye!" That was funny and surreal.
Also, despite being from Australia and, I think, an Italian last name, Lawrence looks quite Japanese, which was hilarious, as he speaks very little/none. The guests kept coming over and asking him for things in Japanese. I really enjoyed his very blank look. Then I'd come over and try to help with my little knowledge. At one point there was a woman asking him for "bii-ru"... Which, in English, is "beer"... Although I didn't know where the beer was, so I had to ask Yasu for help anyway.
At one point we'd run out of oolong tea, so I was sent to get some more jugs. As I was about to head down the stairs to the kitchen, I noticed a woman blatantly belonging to the speed dating, looking very lost. So I went and asked her "daijobu?" (are you ok), to which she replied "toiru wa doko...?" (where's the toilet)... At the point she trailed off, looking rather confused at me, I assume because I was a gaijin. So I was like "ok, shita" (ok, down) and pointed to the stairs. I then had her follow me as I tried to remember where the toilet was. I asked Tammy and then poined down a corridor, saying "migi" (right)... I'm sure I spoke much more Japanese to her, but I can't remember... Either way, I felt way pleased with myself afterwards...
Yeah, after that I had to help with a big service, which is always fun.
Once we'd finished service and setting up for the next morning and everything, someone brought down the love heart shaped balloons from the event... Which was awesome. Yasu ripped one of them open (which had several smaller balloons inside)... And then the helium games began. There's nothing quite like bonding with your work mates over several helium baloons. There were some really funny ones... I think the best one was Masaki-san saying "I'ma kick your ass!" With his helium voice... Masaki-san's awesome. That night was so much fun, we spent the whole time laughing, deciding who should go next and stuff. I really love working here.

So, today (23rd of December) is a special event, for either Christmas or the Emperer's birthday (which is today)... I'm doing a buffet type thing upstairs and stuff... Tomorrow is Christmas eve, in which I will do some shopping (Nami's exchanging my English money for me... Have I mentioned how awesome she is?!) and prepare for Christmas in general. Christmas day I also have off and will spend trying to enjoy Christmas in general, and making a proper Christmas dinner for loads of people, which I'm looking forward to. Then it's new years... Oh, and on the 9th of January, I'm going to Tokyo! ^0^ I organised it yesterday. I've got a hotel booked in Ueno, I know how I'm getting there and I've pretty much decided what I'm doing on each day. It's so exciting!
Anyway, I need to get ready for work now! Ja ne!