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Published: March 22nd 2008
My last few days at school were really easy… I only had 1 class on both Monday and Tuesday! Wednesday was my last day of classes and it was really sad to say goodbye to everyone after such a wonderful time here. Some of the students made me cards with really funny words written inside like “keep your way!” and “thank you for smile”… I love it!
On Monday evening Gareth, James, Laura and I went for food at a really lovely Korean restaurant. I don’t think I’ve ever tried Korean food before and I couldn’t believe how hot and spicy everything was! I watched on in amusement as the 3 of them scoffed a chilli pepper coated in batter and dipped in a spicy powder… they started sweating instantly and turned bright red! The not-so-spicy food was really delicious though… even the raw beef!
On Wednesday evening I went out for yakiniku (grilled meat) with the third grade teachers and had a really yummy meal. there is a grill in the middle of each table with a fire underneath and you can cook your own meat and vegetables on it... the scary part came when i tried to
take my food off the grill to eat it, as the flames were coming up so high that they almost burnt my hand! the beef was absolutely delicious... saga beef is so tender and juicy. they made me try some of the raw beef, as well as the raw liver... ughhhh! when they asked me what i thought of it, i think my face said it all! the ladies on my table made a real effort to talk to me in english and they kept complimenting me on my pretty useless japanese! I then met up with all my friends for nomi-hodai (all you can drink) for Takeshi's birthday... it was a really good laugh! a table of very drunk business men came over to talk to us and one of the men asked if i would come over and chat to all of his friends - they're very keen to practise their english whenever they can... particularly if they get to stare at a blonde girl at the same time!
Last night, I joined the teachers for one last enkai... they told me that it was a farewell enkai for me but they obviously hadn't thought it through
as they took me to a fish restaurant, serving nothing but sushi and sashimi... ahhhhh! they appreciated my attempts to wash the food down with lots of beer anyway but i can't say that i really enjoyed it or that i'll be eating raw fish again anytime soon! they asked me to make a speech and cheered when i told them that i love japan! then they got the young, single male teacher to present me with flowers! they told him to make a speech to me in english and one of the teachers sitting at the back tried to help him out and said " say 'i love you!' " - how embarrasssing! instead, he said "thank you for us. we like you smile every day"- awwww, so sweet! then they told him to give me a hug but he was too shy so i gave him a hug and he told one of the teachers afterwards that he really enjoyed the hug! haha... after that, i went for a nijikai (second party!) with the english teachers... they took me to a ramen shop (yeah, these people never stop eating - i don't know HOW they stay so slim!)
and we had a really lovely chat as they told me how much they'd enjoyed having me at the school and how much they and the students were going to miss me. then they presented me with a gift - some japanese table mats and coasters - which was a really kind thought. i think they also liked their hugs goodbye, as they then started hugging each other and said that from now on, they were going to hug people rather than bow to them!
I have one week left in Saga to tick off everything that is still on my to-do list, before heading to Kyoto, Tokyo and Vietnam… exciting times ahead!
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