By now you know the new year's JETs arrived at the end of July. I went to their Tokyo conference and helped welcome two new ALTs to Nanao. The following week us new JETs attended a two-day conference in Kanazawa. This meeting had more specific information to living and working in the Ishikawa prefecture. And, unlike the Tokyo conference, it was a lot of fun! Here's a peek at what JETs get up to between presentations:
After the first day, Mr. C and I hosted a large group of ALTs on a restaurant tour. We felt so special that our sign-up sheet blew up, so many people wanted to come along! We took the crew to our favorite authentic Indian restaurant, Spice Box.
The owner of Spice Box speaks Hindi, English, and Japanese, and always treats us very well. We reserved the back room, with beautiful murals of elephants and Ganesh along the walls. The entire night was filled with laughs and cheer. I have no photos of the food we ate, and yet it was the best meal I've had because of the great company.
The owner of Spice Box speaks Hindi, English, and Japanese, and always treats us very well. We reserved the back room, with beautiful murals of elephants and Ganesh along the walls. The entire night was filled with laughs and cheer. I have no photos of the food we ate, and yet it was the best meal I've had because of the great company.
On the second night of the conference, we went on a bar crawl. First up, an expensive cocktail bar named after St. Louis that has absolutely nothing to do with the American city (of course). The drinks were listed on the menu in order of the years they won national awards. They were very strong, small, and wonderful.
The bar is staffed by young men working their way through college. They will put on a special show for you if it's your birthday. It was not any of our birthdays, but that didn't stop us! One of the girls had celebrated hers last week, and we were able to get the show. Each bartender juggled and threw glass bottles in the air, catching them on the tops of their hands. Check it out:
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| The performers poured a little alcohol into a martini glass, and our "birthday girl" got to drink the sweet-tasting concoction to the cheers and claps of the entire bar. |
After enjoying the juggling show, we all headed out to an izakaya to drink and order a multitude of small dishes to share; our very own Japanese tapas.
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| Feeling bold, we ordered whatever looked unusual off the menu, including this dish of horse meat. It was especially tasty dipped in soy sauce. |
Then the conferences were over, and it was back to work. But not for long! I soon returned to Kanazawa, this time passing through to catch the train for a week-long summer vacation (more about that coming soon)!
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| More Indian dishes with naan bread in Kanazawa, this time from a mall restaurant. |
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| A final Kanazawa treat; Starbucks. The baristas even wrote on our cups in English! Now it's doubly sweet. |
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And then..... Nagoya!
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