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Published: March 26th 2007
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Sugar Shack
Without the smoke I wrote this update days ago but have dragged my feet on posting it (for no other reason than sheer laziness). There was an earthquake in Northern Japan last weekend (which I hadn’t even heard about until I got to work this morning). Although it was very strong, it didn’t have any impact down here in Kagoshima. Now for my overdue entry:
I ran my third and last half-marathon in Japan last weekend on one of Kagoshima’s southern islands called Tanegashima - famous for surfing, black sugar and a rocket launch pad. I traveled down on the aptly named “Rocket” ferry on Saturday morning with my two city friends Sophie and Zach. The second fastest inter-island boat, the Rocket felt more like an airplane than a ship - a very good thing considering the choppiness of the sea this weekend. The ride down from Kagoshima City is about 2 hours so we arrived on the island at 10. We were greeted at the ferry port by on of the island ALTs, Audrey, who whisked us away for a drive around the island and then to the cabin where we would be spending the night.
The cabin was in
Syrup
First they put the sugar syrup in large metal mixing bowls. a “village” called “Fruit Park” with about 5 other cabins and a large building with a water-wheel on the outside. When we arrived the large building had steam billowing from the roof. We assumed it was an onsen and were pretty excited to go for a dip until the owner of the park informed us that the steam was coming from the black sugar they were making and asked if we’d like to watch the process.
Black sugar is made from sugar cane and is touted as a health food by the Japanese. I’m not sure what benefits it actually has aside from a rapid infusion of calories to your system but many people have at least one cube of it per day, either in tea or on its own. Regardless of its health attributes, this stuff is delicious with a similar taste to molasses, and it was fascinating to see how they make it. The process involves reducing the sugar from a watery consistency to syrup, and resembled the way we make maple syrup with 3 different vats for the various stages of processing. After most of the water has boiled out of the sugar in the third
Me Mixing
Pretty pathetic. vat they scoop out the syrup into large aluminum bowls where they stir in air until the mixture becomes creamy. Afterwards they pour the sugar into large troughs where they insert separators to make bricks.
The park does not make sugar every day (only when they have customers paying to be included in the process) so we were lucky that a couple of old men had scheduled their session for that day. It was especially nice to taste the sugar in its various stages of preparation!
We spent most of the rest of Saturday sleeping, waking only to eat lunch at a nearby Jamaican-themed burger joint. After a sunset walk we met up with Audrey and Eddie (another island ALT) for what would be the most fantastic sushi dinner I have ever eaten. They took us to a restaurant owned by their friend, Mitsuhiro, a talented and creative chef who speaks excellent English. Our order consisted of salad and sushi but we ended up with a huge platter of sushi, 5 kinds of soup, 2 salads, tempura, fried chicken, a chicken and cheese skillet creation and probably more. They were still bringing more food even as we groaned
Real Mixing
This is how you do it! about the fullness of our stomachs.
Everything was delicious (including the sea urchin sushi, which usually tastes like a pasty, tangy, fishy disaster) but the highlight was the shot live fish in tomato vinaigrette. I had seen this eaten on TV but never fathomed I would actually have it served to me personally.
When the fish arrived they were swimming (more like darting) in glasses filled with about an inch of liquid. We may have stared at them too long because they had become very tame by the time we drank them, but they are supposed to give an interesting sensation as they wriggle in your throat. Overall the taste of the sauce was good and I made sure to aim the fish towards the back of my throat, as you would a shot of tequila. I have often eaten things when I didn’t know what they were, but I think this was the first time I willingly drank/ate something I thought would be disgusting. I’m glad I did it - we instantly gained the restaurant owners’ respect and it was kind of thrilling to do something so weird. I think I would even do it again given
Pouring
Aerated syrup is poured into a cooling trough. the chance.
Back at our cabin we watched a movie to digest and tried to rest up for the race, which started at 10 the next morning.
We were surprised at how few people were running the half-marathon portion of it as we lined up but it gave the starting line a more relaxed feel and gave us the chance to meet more people. Akiko approached us as we were waiting for the call to line up and struck up a conversation with us in impeccable English (it’s amazing how many people on this tiny island could speak English!). She had lived in California for 13 years doing a Master’s degree and teaching ESL. When she came back to Japan she got married and, as many Japanese women do, became a housewife. She and her husband have been living on Tanegashima Island, which is really small so she was hoping to be able to do more when they moved to Kagoshima City this spring. She was kind enough to take the photos of Zach, Sophie and I during the race and we exchanged e-mail addresses. Hopefully we’ll be able to see her again when they move.
The
Like Taffy
Sophie and Audrey try some sticky sugar syrup race itself was slow (for me) but beautiful. I felt strong at the finish, but my shins spent the first 8 kilometers indicating their unhappiness at having to run any significant distance at all. Nonetheless for the experience of seeing most of the island, including beautiful rice fields, mountains and beaches on foot, it was worth every kilometer.
Back in the city I met up with Nathaniel and we drove back to Shibushi together stopping at our favourite vegetable stand along the way. Vegetable stands are easy to come by around here and I really appreciate that feature of the countryside.
We had a random national holiday on Wednesday and finally also had a break from the rainy cold we’d been having for the last couple of weeks. I profited by taking a walk through Shibushi, discovering one of the shrines I hadn’t visited before and generally musing at how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful area. On nice days I wish I could live in these kinds of surroundings forever - if only I could import them to Canada!
I was going to end my entry here but thought I would add in
Gotta Keep It Separated
Sugar mixture being cooled into blocks one more heart-lifting story about Thursday. For the last two semesters I taught all five second-year writing classes and last week we had our final classes for this school year. I happened to miss one of my wrap-up classes because of the holiday on Wednesday. Although I will be seeing all my students again in April (and will be teaching them as third-years), they “summoned” me to their class on Thursday so they could say goodbye.
Under normal circumstances I would have been flattered, but this time I was blown away! At the beginning of the year this was one of my most difficult classes as the students were disruptive, bad at English and generally disinterested in anything to do with me. And yet, in the last month or so something changed. One day the most disruptive student painted the Japanese characters for my name in calligraphy class and offered it to me as a gift. During the last class the student whose only interest seemed to be volleyball actually made eye contact and spoke to me when I stopped at his desk to help him with his work. Possibly for the first time since I got here I
Sugar Cubes
Once the blocks have been cooled they're ready to be broken into smaller pieces or just taken home like that. was clearly shown the impact we have on our students. I never thought I would say that I can’t wait to teach this class again next semester!
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Orion
non-member comment
That's cool...
Hey Em, That's a cool trip. Thanks for the picture of your place it looks really nice and now I can put a picture to some of the stories. I told you the kids looked up to you...that's awesome they're starting to show their respect. Talk later... Orion