Of Rain, Ramen, and Origami Gomi-Bako.

Hello, readers!

Row-of-the-Rowstein, here.  Today's blog post will be a meandering, photo-filled parade of the last week or so of my life in Japan.  Here goes:

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The new year's classes have, after many ceremonies and orientations and checks of various kinds (only some of which I understood), officially begun at my school.  That means I'm back to doing my whole English teachery thing.  Hooray!

I'll admit, though, that I was a bit apprehensive before these new classes started up.  (What if these students don't like me?  What if I can't control the class?  What if I run out of lesson ideas?  What if my new teachers don't like the way I teach? Etc, etc, etc.)  But, after meeting with all my classes, I feel much relieved.  My students are fabulous and friendly, my teachers are great, and my schedule is workable.  I'm hoping it's a good foundation for a great school year.

And, now that I've been there for a while, I feel like I'm starting to be accepted by the school as a whole, not just the English Department.  A teacher noticed that I didn't have a chalk-case, as I was admiring someone else's, so they got me one.  And I promptly decorated it with a sticker.  Because, you know, I'm 5.

Cute snake!  Chalk!  Happy!

I know it's not much, but when the Japanese teachers make a point to include me as part of the group in any small way, it makes me feel really good.  And valued.  That can be a rare feeling as an ALT.

Anyway, my classes two weeks ago (the first of the school year) went swimmingly.  And to celebrate, on the following weekend, my friend Eleanor and I decided to spend some time in Tenjin (a particularly hoppin' area of Fukuoka city), eating ramen and going shopping.

We hit a very famous ramen chain called Ichiran.

Eleanor and I get very excited about food.

Tonkotsu (not to be confused with "tonkatsu") ramen is a notoriously delicious local food here in Fukuoka.  The soup has a rich pork base, which is usually served with super thin noodles, slices of pork belly meat, green onions, a spicy miso-sauce, and sometimes sliced mushrooms.

At Ichiran, when you walk in the door, you buy a food ticket from a machine.  The selections are incredibly limited.  Think a handful of buttons that say things like:  RAMEN, EGG, FRIED THING, EXTRA EGG, EXTRA FRIED THING, BEER, and so on.  But variety is not as important in Japanese restaurants.  Quality is important.  You go to a restaurant that makes one thing, because it makes that one thing reeeeeally well.  And so it is with Ichiran.

So, after several moments of Eleanor and me bumbling with the ticket machine (it was so easy, we'd assumed we were doing something wrong... ha!), we took our seats at tiny, adjacent dining booths.  Then we filled out a "Preference" sheet, kindly written in English, indicating how we'd like our ramen to be prepared.  (Note:  You can see my ramen ticket, ラーメン, just above the paper.)

We pushed a button, causing a veritable three-part chorus of はああああい from within the restaurant, and a server came and took our orders.  Within minutes, two lidded crocks of unbelievable deliciousness arrived at our tables.

I wish you could smell photos.

Now, everyone has their opinions on Hakata ramen, and I'm not saying that Ichiran is the best.  But on this rainy, cold day... this tasted like absolute heaven.  HEEEEEAVEN.  (Insert Homer Simpson drooling sound).

When / if you finish your ramen at Ichiran, a unique "fortune" awaits you at the bottom of your bowl.  I've forgotten what mine says, now, but it was something cheeky and funny, like, "You've finished this soup, you must be happy."

Here's a photo of the outside of the restaurant.  Sorry I couldn't get better perspective, but it was raining rather hard and I didn't want to get out from under the awning.  Blogger fail, I know.

And here's a shot of the neighborhood, called Tenjin (sometimes also called Daimyo).  It's a super lively place, with more cafes and shops than you could shake a stick at.  And I mean that literally.  If you picked up a stick and shook once it at every shop you came to, you'd pass out from exhaustion before you even left the Tenjin Core building.

After shopping and chatting for a few hours, we headed back to Hakata Station (a regular stop for the two of us) and found a parfait shop, hidden on the basement floor in one of the many dining clusters.  Unsure of the menu, and me with a serious aversion to fruit, we gambled and each ordered a Japanese style parfait.  They're towering confections, as you can see.  Eleanor was choco-banana, on the left, and mine was a coffee-something-or-other, on the right.

Parfaits digested and many good times had, we then went our separate ways, taking our respective trains home.  A lovely Saturday.

The next day, I spent all morning (and I mean ALL MORNING) studying for the GRE.  But I got fed up with being inside on such a gorgeous day, so I hopped a train to my favorite place in the area, Dazaifu, and walked to Tenmangu Shrine.

Here are some pictures:

A small child watches the koi.

The beautiful gate.

Kid waves "Bai bai" to the fish.

The shrine proper, with lovely trees.

Looking back at the entrance.

After buying a few charms and offering a prayer to Michizane, I decided to take a very long, very ambling walk all the way home.  The day was lovely, though, and the mind-clearing time was much needed.  Successful weekend = complete!

Now, jumping ahead to a mid-week event of note.  I participate in a weekly Japanese class on Wednesdays.  But, every 4th Wednesday, we have an optional event instead of class.  This week, we went to a "Japanese Manners Dinner," where we learned techniques for picking up and using chopsticks properly, what NOT to do with our chopsticks, how to serve and eat some traditional Japanese foods, etc.

Here are some highlights!

First course!

D, workin' that sukiyaki.

Delicious steak.

Tasty, tasty sashimi.

As the meal was winding down, our teacher offered to teach us how to make origami trash-cans out of newspaper.  We made them and, of course, the first thing I said was, "This could be a hat!" and I put it on my head.  Because, you know, I'm 5.

Origami fashions, yo.

So, there you have it!  My last two weeks crammed right into a nutshell.
Sorry if you're allergic to nuts.

Thanks for reading!
WR