Archive for category The Penpal
January 25, 2005 – Exploring Numazu
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka, The Penpal on January 25, 2015
A bridge over the Kano river
I have been living in Numazu for almost 3 months. It seemed like a good time to get out of the house and explore the city on my bicycle. My first stop was city hall to finally update my address with the government. City Hall is not terribly easy to navigate for someone who can’t read Japanese well. I spent a few minutes walking aimlessly checking out my options at different windows and offices, and generally looking confused. Eventually an English speaking civil servant approached me and directed me to the right place.
Senbon is a rocky beach
After a successfully completing my mission at City Hall, I took a long, meandering bike ride around the city. I went by the busy port area and then along Senbonhama beach, named after the thousands of trees along the shore. The beach itself is windy and full of rocks, so it’s not a “beach party” kind of place. It is very popular with windsurfers and kiteboarders.
Temple in Numazu, Japan
Numazu itself covers a huge area that used to be a number of smaller towns. However, the main city part of Numazu is fairly compact, and it’s easy for me to get almost anywhere by bicycle. After a nice long ride, I ended up returning home and getting ready for an evening with The Penpal.
The Penpal and I went out for dinner (now our usual activity), and I showed her a few episodes of South Park. She laughed hard at the anime stylings of “Good Times with Weapons” and the catchy theme song for “Sexual Harassment Panda”. But seriously, who doesn’t think Sexual Harassment Panda is funny?
January 11, 2005 – Grilled mochi
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on January 11, 2015
Grilled mochi picture from http://spontaneoustomato.com/2014/01/30/yakimochi/
Today I had a lazy day off. In the evening, The Penpal’s family took me out for delicious ramen. Yum! After dinner, we went back to their house and had grilled mochi, which is a Japanese New Year’s tradition.
I learned about New Year’s mochi in my Introduction to Japanese class that I took in University. The classic tradition is to take rice and pound it with a giant wooden mallet until it turns into a sticky rice cake. I was hoping to get a chance to try out my mallet swinging skills, but found out that all of the mochi had already been made in The Penpal’s aunt’s mochi machine. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but it was probably for the best. At my best I am pretty clumsy and would have likely smashed someones fingers with the mallet.
We grilled the mochi on a small indoor grill, and then ate it wrapped in seaweed or cheese. The rice cakes were sticky and delicious, and it was a fun experience for all. It was also very good Japanese practice for me. Good times!
December 17, 2004 – Harry Potter 3 (again)
Posted by Barniferous in Movies, Teaching English, The Penpal on December 17, 2014
Today at work I had a class full of 4 year olds. Getting a full sentence in English out of one 4 year old is hard, never mind 6 kids. Oh well, there are only 16 lessons left before I return to Canada for Christmas!
After work I went to see Harry Potter 3 with The Penpal. I had already watched the movie during the summer when my parents were in Japan. We saw the movie at Joyland, a combination bowling alley / game center / movie theater located in the Nakamise shopping area of Numazu near the south side of the station. The theater was nice, but couldn’t compare to some of the giant, modern movie theaters in Tokyo and Yokohama.
The movie was still good the second time, and it was nice to get some time with The Penpal before I went home.
December 3, 2004 – Restaurant in the hills
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka, Teaching English, The Penpal on December 4, 2014
Today I had an early shift at Mishima NOVA. I was the only teacher working in the morning, which was an unusual experience. At Kawasaki NOVA there was always a minimum of 4-5 teachers at any time. Despite being the only person there, the teacher’s room still seemed tiny.
My third lesson of the day was empty, so I got the staff to ask the students from my second lesson if they wanted to stay. Three had other plans, but one stayed for another lesson. I think I earned some brownie points from the staff for helping sell a lesson.
After work, I went out for dinner with The Penpal and her parents. It was our first time to all have dinner together, so they took me to a nice restaurant in a fancy mountainside hotel. The hotel is called “New Wel Sunpia Numazu“, and it is one of several government owned hotels across the country that are funded by pension money. The hotel is an investment using national pension funds, and offers discounts for members of the pension plan. In addition to hotel rooms and a restaurant, there are also meeting rooms and sports facilities. The whole facility is located on the side of a mountain and offers fantastic views of the city all the way to the ocean.
We ate kaiseki, which is a multi-course traditional meal with many small dishes. I am not really sure what I was eating, but it was all delicious.
It was great to get out and have dinner with The Penpal’s parents, but I learned that I really need to improve my Japanese if I want to communicate with them. I would like to be able to have more of a conversation without relying on a translator.
November 21, 2004 – A surprised donkey
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on November 21, 2014
I swapped the day off and hung out with the Penpal. We watched movies in my room and then went out for dinner at a restaurant called Bikkuri Donkey. The name literally translates to “suprised donkey”. No, they do not serve donkey meat.
The restaurant is famous for it’s hamburger steak, which is simply a ground beef patty served with various sauces and side dishes. It’s good, reasonably priced, and there is a self service drink bar. In addition, the menu has English and pictures, which makes it very foreigner friendly.
After dinner we spent some time at Seiyu playing on the walking escalator to the roof parking lot.
November 15, 2004 – I have a bike!
Posted by Barniferous in Shizuoka, The Penpal on November 15, 2014
Today I went to the nearby travel agency with a pile of cash and paid for my plane ticket. It is still strange for me to make large purchases with cash. I am always surprised by the lack of businesses who accept credit cards for payment.
After the travel agent I tried out a Japanese burger chain called “Freshness Burger“. As you would expect from the name, the ingredients are very fresh. Unfortunately like other Japanese burger restaurants, the burgers are simply too small.
I hung out at home for the rest of the afternoon, and The Penpal came over to visit when she was done work. We spent a few hours together, and then I walked her home from my apartment. It takes about 20-25 minutes to walk from Ooka City Plaza to The Penpal’s house. We walked by a printing company, a school, a rice paddy, and several small businesses along a narrow road.
At the house, her parents offered me the use of The Penpal’s old bicycle. The bike is a few years old and is no longer in use, but they cleaned it up for me and bought a basket and a light. Since Numazu does not have the population density to support a subway system like the Greater Tokyo area, having a bicycle will give me a lot of freedom to get around. I am very excited!
Before I left, The Penpal and I reviewed the directions on how to get back to my apartment. Her mother made sure to tell me to watch out for cars, pedestrians, narrow sidewalks, trains, and not to get lost. She also asked that I send a message to The Penpal to let her know that I got home safely. It sounded like exactly the same kinds of things my own mother would say.
Mothers of the world really aren’t all that different 🙂
November 13, 2004 pt 1 – Plane ticket purchased
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka, The Penpal on November 12, 2014
Today before work I went with The Penpal to a travel agency near Numazu station. She helped me to buy my plane ticket home for Christmas!
I am sure that someone at the Travel Agent could speak English, but it was very helpful to have a Japanese speaker with me. I was not surprised when the travel agent did not know where Winnipeg was. Knowing that the airport code was YWG saved me explaining the spelling in English or katakana.
When I left Canada for Japan, Air Canada had the best deal. This time, Northwest had the cheapest ticket. I will be flying from Tokyo to Winnipeg through Minneapolis, leaving December 20 and returning on January 5. I am very excited to be home for the holidays!
November 8, 2004 – Earthquakes and Zombies
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan, Movies, Shizuoka, The Penpal on November 8, 2014
Today I got to spend some time with The Penpal. It looks like Monday might be our regular hangout day. I have the day off, and she stops by after work. We did some Japanese language practice and I learned some words to describe the taste of food.
After The Penpal left, I watched the new Dawn of the Dead with Palmer. I had some concerns about “fast” zombies and the fact that remakes are usually not as good as the original, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was also obviously filmed in Canada. In the background of one of the mall scenes was a KFC restaurant sporting the sign “PFK” which is the French name.
During the movie we felt two earthquakes. Palmer said that our building is modern and well designed. If we can feel a mild earthquake inside, it must be stronger outside. Not sure if that was reassuring at all.
November 5, 2004 – Japanese Lesson after work
Posted by Barniferous in Shizuoka, The Penpal on November 5, 2014
The Penpal’s office is conveniently close to Mishima NOVA, my new branch. After work we met up near the station and practiced Japanese. I learned the verb ending “need to do”, which is incredibly useful.
In the Greater Tokyo area, most of the teachers don’t study Japanese because it is possible to get by without it. As you get away from the major cities, it seems like more teachers are actively studying Japanese. I am hoping that this will make it easier for me to study and improve my language skill.
October 20, 2004 – Mover details
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on October 20, 2014
The Penpal sent me an email with the details for my upcoming move. My Japanese language ability is likely not good enough to organize a mover by myself. I am sure that NOVA would offer some assistance, but having a helpful bilingual girlfriend made things much easier.
After doing some research, the Penpal found a company called One Room Hikkoshi Center. They specialize in small moves within Japan. Before my moving date on November 1, they will send boxes, a futon bag, bubble wrap, and packing tape to me at Hello House.
On the day of the move, one mover will show up with a truck at 9:00am. He will be bringing a hanger box for my clothes and a PC box for my computer. While I pack those, he will be loading the truck. The Penpal even made sure that I could ride in the moving truck instead of having to take the train to Numazu.
This is my first time hiring a mover, and thanks to The Penpal the planning couldn’t have gone better. Thanks The Penpal, you rock!
Drinking in Japan 
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