October in Aomori

So, the last time I left off I was preparing for the Beef and Garlic Festival, the Soccer Tournament in Nagano and the 3K race in Towada. Well, those have all been completed! And as you can tell (from the picture to the left) I made some time to try out curling!

The Beef and Garlic festival was very fun. We took about a two hour road trip and arrived there around 11. There were many events of the day, such as a rock, paper, scissors competition vs. the garlic lady and the garlic queen (who comes from California). Stands were all set up, selling food and extremely cheap garlic (Takko is the garlic capital of Japan). Then you could buy sets of beef, vegetables and some garlic and then there were lots and lots of flat grills to cook all your food and enjoy. It was a very fun day. On the way home we checked out Jesus' grave. In case any of you were confused, there were 12 years in the bible that were missing, that is when Jesus trekked through Russia and ended up in Aomori, where he had a wife and children. When he was supposed to be crucified, his brother Izukiri took the cross for him instead. And now Jesus is burried here in Shingo, in Aomori prefecture. Just though I would inform you of the correct history about Jesus.

The following weekend was an exhuasting weekend but extremely fun weekend filled with soccer. About 25 of us left from Aomori on Friday night for our long bus ride to Nagano, which took about 11 hours. The bus ride was a blast getting to hang out and talk with a bunch of people, but the sleep wasnt the best. We arrived at our hotel/Japanese inn around 5 am. Our first games were around 9, so we had a few hours to rest up and nap. The girls team, the Ringo Stars (Ringo means apple in Japanese, and Aomori is famous for their apples, they produce a little over half of the apples sold in Japan), had four games that saturday. So it was a very tiring day. We won 3 games and tied our last, i scored a goal too. woo. The tournament was an All Japan ALT tournament, so jets from all over were there. We all stayed in the hotel so the hotel was crawling with hundreds of jets, it was fun and that night there was a big party. The next day everyone was so sore and still tired, but there were more games to be played. We ended up loosing a game to Nagano prefecture, but we came in third. Coming in third meant we got a trophy and a case of beer (its Japan). The boys, Aomori United, did not fair so well, but it was still fun. We then were in for another 11 hour bus ride back for everyone to return to their homes only a few hours before work.

Then, last weekend Christy and I took trains down to Towada for the 3K race. The first night we stayed with our friend Aaron, who was running in the 5K. It was nice to relax and just chill before the race. Sunday was the race and Christy and I were not going to race, but just to have something to run in (since we are doing a running scheduled called from the couch to the 5k). We ran our 3k in 15:59, not sure what we were hoping for haha. But the race day was really fun. That night we stayed at a Japanese Inn, where we relaxed, took many onsens (the Japanese public baths/hot springs). This place had a nice outdoor one which we did a lot. We also had a good traditional Japanese dinner of Sukiyaki and other small dishes. Towada has some great horse, so we were also given a lot of delicious raw horse meat, which I highly recommend.

This past week has been a little more relaxed. Since Monday was a holiday (Sports and Health day) I did not have hip hop class. And my bread baking class is every other week. So I thought my nights would be free, but they got filled up with a big trip to Nittori (Japanese Ikea) to buy things for my apartment and dinners with friends. This weekend is a relaxing one with no plans which is nice. The weather is starting to get nice and autumnish. Today I just biked around a bit and then walked around this beach/park by my house. Tomorrow my middle school near my house is having their school festival, I might stop by and make an appearance there, see some of my kids.

Coming up:
Next week: Halloween Party in Hachinohe (any good costume suggestions?)
Week after: 3K Race in Rokkunohe