Crow Casserole

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Wednesday the Nagano group boarded the coach for a three hour journey. We stopped for lunch half an hour before my drop off point, so those going down south could change from our t-shirts into suits and shirts. By this point it was HOT. Trying not to sweat too much, I waited nervously for the stop. I was meeting my supervisor and possibly another person and had an hour journey down to Takagi to get to know them.
We pulled up in Matsamoto city. Five of us got off and were greeted immediately. I was introduced to my future school’s principal, Mr Osawara (or Kocho-Sensei) and my supervisor from the Board of Education of Takagi village, Tomoya Shirai. Kocho- Sensei is a gentle, kindly man in his fifties, who made me feel at ease at once. His English is very good, although he carries an electronic dictionary for some words. He speaks the most English out of all the people I have met so far. Shirai-san is younger and shy, but very kind. He speaks a little English, but is much more reluctant to try and so I’m trying to speak the little Japanese I know with him.
When we first got into the car, I thought we were going straight back to Takagi, but Kocho-Sensei explained he’d like to take me to see the famous Matsumoto castle in the city. At first, feeling nervous and not quite understanding his accent, I thought he was telling me he’d like to take me to try the city’s famous Crow Casserole. I wasn’t so keen on the thought of a bird stew, even if it was a local delicacy, but smiled anyway, then was relieved I’d been such a dork when we pulled up outside this amazing looking 15th century castle – also known as “Crow Castle” because of its black and white decoration (Crows in Japan are I think the colour of Magpies in the UK).
I began to feel more at ease wandering around the beautiful gardens, taking photos. Kocho-Sensei told me his father was a policeman and was based in the area, so he used to play in the castle grounds as a child. They treated me to the entrance ticket and we climbed all the way to the top. It was packed with Japanese people enjoying the summer holidays, but I think apart from one other JET from the bus, I was the only westerner there!
The drive back went quite quick chatting with Kocho-Sensei. I was feeling pretty tired and am still suffering from Jet lag, so it was a bit bewildering when we first got to Takagi. I was introduced to many people – the office workers in the Board of Education offices in the village, the Mayor and Vice Mayor. I used my little Japanese introduction, so I hope it was well received and I didn’t come across as a tired, sweaty weirdo. They took me for a quick shopping session, which was also bewildering knowing what to buy with two Japanese well meaning men following me round watching everything I picked up! I grabbed a random selection I thought I might need and hoped for the best.
Next we stopped at a small garage where I’m going to rent my car from. I had to choose if I wanted a yellow plate car (small, cheap to run) or a bigger white plate (more powerful). I was torn as I think the white plate might be better for the mountains and snow, but I feel much more comfortable with a little car, so took that option. I’ve also said I’m happy with an automatic (they might have been a manual available, but I thought hey, why not give the go-cart style a try). I am both eagerly awaiting and dreading driving for the first time! Until then Shirai-san is ferrying me around as my sub village Tomida is a fair hike from Takagi.

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