OrpheusGrey

Okayama locals gathered at Korakuen garden to take in spectacular views of the harvest moon, along with traditional Japanese music and tea ceremonies. There was massive cheering when the moon finally came out from behind the clouds.

Our trip to Hiroshima is covered in its own photo album.

The weekend following said trip, we invited some JET friends over to our place for chili and drinks. Most of them were first years like us. But we also welcomed a married couple we recently befriended on our Fuji-san climb (second years), and a Japanese teacher about our age who works with one of our friends.

The chili met with a subdued, but favorable, response. Bernie and Bethany, from Australia, introduced everyone to tim-tam slams (small chocolate coated wafers with a nougat-like center through which you suck hot chocolate as the whole tim-tam melts away in your fingers). The trick is to get some hot chocolate then pop the tim-tam in your mouth before it crumbles and melts all over your hands. Great messy fun that is!

Then Bernie broke out her travel-Twister. This, of course, provided some memorable candids, embarrassed our new Japanese friend Nao, and took out the screen of our patio door. We're definitely going to have another one of these parties.

The following day many of us went to Kurashiki's Tivol Park because gaijin were allowed in for free. Kurashiki is the next town to the west of Okayama-shi. It has an amusement park modeled on Denmark's famous Tivoli Gardens, for some reason. It's quite picturesque, but not worth the $45 USD they charge for admission and ride tickets. So we were glad to discover that free of charge. Plus there was an international festival there that day, so we enjoyed some delicious Sudanese meat, shaved, sauteed in a spicy sauce, and served in a pita cone.

Finally, people around the prefecture have been harvesting the rice fields since the beginning of the month. The ones near our apartment were some of the last to get picked. But they have finally done so, and now they are just barren dirt lots. It's another reminder, along with the dropping temperatures, that winter is just around the corner. Uggh....

'Till next time!