This is the American Embassy, your children have gone missing....

Or so it could have gone perhaps.  We went up to Oshiroyama (the castle ruins on the mountain) to get some photos because last weekend when we went to do the same, the camera died after one picture.  So we went up the mountain and took a few pictures (we'll post them sometime). We basically wanted to capture the fall colors.

At about this time, when we had most of the pictures we wanted, a japanese man about 50s walked past us with two walking sticks and started talking to us.  I (Brian) couldn't understand most of what he said except for a few words, but Maria picked up a reasonable amount.  He asked us where we were from, how long we were going to be in Murakami and what Japanese foods and drinks we had tried.  Apparently, not quite enough.  When we admitted having not been to a sushi restaurant he said that "Let's go!"  (or something like that).  This was a fun idea but we didn't know where we were going and we hadn't planned to go out at all.  We told that we had no money and he responded "that's okay, I'm paying for you."

So we walked down the mountain with him, got into his car (what?!) and let him drive us about 10-15 minutes down the highway (are you two stupid?!).  (Answers to the questions: Got into his car, and yes apparently we are).  He certainly was pleasant and on the way down the mountain we had run into one of his friends who he talked to for a moment, and their exchange appeared normal!  So we went to a sushi restaurant where you pick up small plates of sushi as they move past you on a conveyor belt, with no money and he said "grab whatever you want.  don't worry." He asked me if I wanted a beer, but I was too embarrassed to say "well, of course I'd LIKE one but you're already paying for our meals."  And of course, I can't say it in Japanese.  The sushi was really good, I love that wasabi seems to always been in sushi, unlike American sushi where it seems to be optional.  Maria even enjoyed some of it, and sushi is NOT her favorite.

I should mention that at this point, he hadn't even given us his name.  In fact, he never gave us his name.  In fairness, Maria hadn't given hers, but I believe I had given mine.  I have to wonder...why...just...why did we think that this was a smart idea to go with him?

Anyway, we continued to think it was reasonable to go with him, because it was probably a 30 minute walk home from the sushi restaurant (at best).  He took us next to a crepe place where, surprisingly, we saw his friend that we had just seen on the mountain!  (If I could speak Japanese really well, it might not have been a surprise).  Apparently, his friend owns the place.  We chatted for a few minutes, got free samples of ice cream, and a crepe as a gift. 

Back into the car, we drove through Iwafune, which is maybe 2 miles from Murakami.  He pointed out a place that he said was "his apartment" and another place that was "his house."  That's when it started to dawn on us he might be kinda a big deal in Murakami...  owning multiple residences, being a landlord, ya know.  He told us he was an accountant.  Next we drove back to Murakami, somewhat near the train station, and he stopped in the street next to a house.

 Across the street from the house was an office, apparently his office.  He had the big plush office, and I'm pretty sure that it was his accounting firm now.  We sat down in the office and then wow, his wife entered with his cat (?!).  After a moment of chat, we went across the street to his house, the house we parked in front of.  Now, we sat in his living room, he would routinely get up to herd the cat back in the room, and each had a cup of coffee.  We talked with him and his wife for a few minutes (again, no names!) and after maybe 15 minutes, they gave us gifts of a large bottle of beer, a bottle of wine and (what looked to be) expensive sake.  Then he made his staff (working across the street in the office, after dinner) drive us home!  Nice to be the boss in Japan.  And you can sure supervise when your house is across the street from the office.

It was on the way home we learned his name (Shocho-san).  Which is a relief certainly, because we'll have to figure out some gift to get him for taking us all those places.  It was a pretty crazy evening, and definitely it was a huge surprise.  We had a lot of fun, and a bunch of gifts!  Definitely a weird experience!  Japanese people are definitely very nice!

Free TV, TV costs and Frugality

Since Tokyo we haven't really been up to much. The weather has changed quite a bit. Instead of the hot and humid crazy days we have cool mornings and evenings, nice afternoons, and cold nights. All in all, Murakami weather is kind of a mix between Oberlin and Raleigh. It's not as rainy as Oberlin, although it definitely rains, but it's also not as sunny as Raleigh.

I transferred our monthly savings back to America pretty early in the month. Unfortunately, after the expensive weekend in Tokyo, that might not have been the best plan, but we are having a "fun" time trying to live as frugally as possible. I've been making tons of inexpensive food at once so we have leftovers and Brian won't have to buy food for lunch either. Only two weeks until pay-day! I would say we'd have no problem except that we are supposed to pay the bill for national television this month, I just don't know when it's due. Thankfully a teacher is helping me figure it out. Some other things have come up too like paying for a hospital visit, a Japanese exam, and we also have to go to Niigata and get re-entry permits so we can come back to Japan after Christmas break. It will all work out though. =) (Quick note before anyone asks:  the hospital visit was pretty routine and no big deal, so don't worry - Brian)

I'm also knee-deep in applying for graduate programs. I hope I'm mostly finished with my essay, but we will see after my mom and I go through it this weekend. Then I will pass it along to Brian. Anyone who wants to take a stab at it let me know! I appreciate as much help as possible! After finishing this one for Duke, I need to work on the one for NC State, but I think that will just take a bit of re-working the essay, so it shouldn't be as difficult. I've been communicating with Duke on how the financial aid works there and they get all of their fellowships through the national government, which is both good and bad. Good because only US citizens can get the fellowships and they usually to have a 1:1 ratio of foreign to US applicants. It might be bad because of the current economic situation. Thankfully the program is very small, so if I get accepted, I hypothetically should have a decent chance in getting a fellowship. My recommending professors have a little less than a month to get the letters of recommendation in, so I think everything is going pretty well. I'm going to send off my transcripts in the next couple of weeks as well. I should hear back from Duke in the beginning of March, but I won't find out from NC State until probably late April or May.

Because we have been a little low on cash, we've been finding free things to occupy ourselves with on the weekends. Two weekends ago we had an NCIS marathon of season 6. We're also having weekly dates with our friend to watch the new NCIS season 7 episodes. Southpark starts again this week so we might have to have a weekly Southpark viewing night too! =) Last weekend we introduced our friend's boyfriend to Southpark with a few different episodes and the movie. I think he enjoyed it overall, but he thought they spoke pretty fast, and while his English is very good, it's still hard for him to understand everything. (I don't understand all the words in it either). This weekend we are hoping to spend time with our married friends watching Eddie Izzard Dress to Kill. We have also been listening to Going Postal by Terry Prachett on tape every evening.

I signed up to take the Japanese proficiency examination on December 6. I don't know if I'm the only Murakami ALT signed up yet, but I have quite a bit to study, so I asked a fellow Japanese English teacher if she would like to be conversation partners. We will see how that goes. I hope some other ALT's decided to take it too so we can all study together.

I think that's all for now! I hope my English wasn't too bad! I've been a bit scatterbrained recently!