Back in feudal japan, the shogun (most powerful warlord, de facto ruler) would make the warlords under him alternate between spending a year in their hometowns, and a year in the capital (which i believe was kyoto at that time). my japanese history isn't the best, but one popular hypothesis i know of is that this was done to prevent the smaller warlords from amassing too much power and breaking away on their own. after coming back to my small town from a weekend in the city, i kind of get it. staying in this small place is comfortable, and makes me not want to care about things that happen outside. and that's dangerous because it limits my mind. given that most of the kids have stayed here all their lives, i guess i can kind of understand why the insular mindset is prevalent in japan, particularly in rural areas.

the city trip was great! it started with the smaller school's end-of-year party, where i heard some interesting gossip. seems like all is not sunshine and rainbows. but it doesn't affect me, so i'm just going to treat that as trivia. the food was good, with horse sashimi being one of the dishes. there were 3 kinds of meat - a lean pinkish one which i think was regular muscle, a dark red one which might be a more tender cut, or liver (although it didn't have the usual metallic taste i associate with liver), and one cut which was mostly fat, and thus juicy and delicious. a few of us went for karaoke after the dinner, and i found out that the usually quiet science teacher can sing really well! actually, i was so surprised that there are so many talented singers among the teaching staff.

since i didn't want to waste money on petrol and tolls driving back and forth, i decided to camp out in the car, which was parked in a paid parking lot. didn't have a very good sleep, because the space was kind of cramped. in addition, there was a bright light shining on the parking lots, and so many people laughing and partying into the wee hours. i'd honestly forgotten how noisy a city could be! so i learnt from this experience that i need enough space to stretch out to be able to sleep comfortably. woke up early (6am) and went to a nearby convenience store for a toilet break and breakfast. napped a little, then had a morning bath at an onsen in the city. i realized that i was one of the youngest, if not the youngest person in the onsen. really puts the aging population thing into sharp focus. some younger people (schoolkids) came in as i was leaving, so maybe it's not all that bad.

most of the day was then spent at aeon mall, where i spend entirely too long looking for luggage. ended up buying a carry-on case, and was about to get a bigger suitcase when i had the bright idea to search online because the available options weren't entirely what i was looking for. the candidate i almost went for had pockets that were intended to be used when the suitcase is vertical. the one i ordered online is essentially the same size, but with horizontal pockets and about half price vs. the one in the physical shop. the difference is that the cheaper one may not have aluminum edging, but that's not a huge deal to me. in addition, i bought a pair of gloves (the PU leather on my uniqlo ones are peeling off) and beard papa cream puffs. all in all, a day well spent! i'll be going back this weekend, so there may be round 2 of shopping.

the week so far has been good. had a nasty-ish talk in the office, where the board of education told me they can't interfere in school matters. then why do they exist in the first place? but well, i'm on my way out, so i'm not too inclined to start a fight. will leave the next JET a warning though. in the school, the other teacher and i had a chat with the english teacher today. it went as well as it could have gone, so i'm hoping for positive change.

linked to this, i'm having my appraisal/recontract meeting tomorrow. it's not going to make any difference, since i'm already set on not recontracting. it would be interesting to see if my appraisal changes based on this fact. hopefully it's a short meeting, since i've got to record some videos before my long leave.

forecasting the near future, i have:

thursday - recontract/appraisal meeting

friday - year-end party with the office

saturday or sunday - apply for UK visa and try to book biometrics appointment

sunday night - bus to osaka

monday - biometrics appointment (ideally), final fantasy cafe in osaka

tuesday to thursday - kobe

friday morning - reach back to kochi city, spend the day there?

sunday - year-end post

monday - new year post

4 january - first day of work in the new year

5 january - taking leave

9 january - first day in school for term 3

mental note that i have to figure out how the documents should be arranged, and that i have to bring my passport to osaka. should probably submit on saturday, so that i have reaction time in case a document isn't accepted, or something else goes wrong. i'm actually quite looking forward to the trip! going to try and be not so overly budget-conscious this time.

-random thought of the day: Thank goodness for electric blankets!-