Back to the Torture Chamber

I had to go to Kyoto on the 5-6^th December. JET likes to torture us with these little trips away by holding them in the middle of the week so we have work the day before and the day after the seminar thereby ruling out any days left for sightseeing and shopping. We still manage to fit in dinners out and some things on the last night before leaving but apart from that it's strictly business. On this pointless jaunt we had to prepare lesson plans and activities and share them with others in our teaching level and on the final day give examples of activities to all of the assembled JETs and JTEs (Japanese teachers of English). For those who were exclusively primary school, they didn't need to bring a JTE and there was only seven of us, three being on an programme run by a different organisation. The boredom was stemmed by the fact that our group leader was the ever lax Ben from Australia was a welcome change from the uptight Americans usually running the show. Apart from the lesson plan exchanges we had guest speakers from the education sector and even a lecture and demonstration of Japanese sado (tea ceremony).

On the first night of the seminars Most of the group went to the Chijafa, the yakiniku BBQ we had at the Kyoto Orientation, which I found a little too loud, so Maggie, Jenni and I broke away from the group and tried out the Ninja Restaurant, this time for the full a la carte menu not the lunch buffet we tried last time. In the restaurant we were led to our table by a ninja through a labyrinth and could only enter after saying the ninja password 'nin nin!'. The restaurant was really dark with every table separated by high walls, I didn't dare leave my seat as I knew it would be impossible to find the table again if I wandered off. As a free entree they gave us a bush of black shuriken shaped crackers which were pretty yum. 

Shuriken om nom nom!

We ordered sukiyaki and instead of adding plain sugar to the broth, the ninja who served us placed a huge bowl of candy floss in front of us saying we could take some before he poured the broth over it. Jenni ordered a salad but they didn't realise it was just for her and gave us a bowl full big enough for three people. We had a champagne cocktail to wash it down with and finally after our ninja told us to wait for the finale, the master ninja came out do do his ninja magic for the three of us. This guy was awesome and he spoke good English as he did his slight of hand tricks and got us to join in. For the ever cynical Jenni, she found it a little boring but for me, the slightest thing impresses me here in Japan so I was suitably entertained.

There's nothing like pork on your candy floss drizzled with  pork stock.

The desserts looked a little expensive so we went to a ice cream parlour for some fancy parfaits. There were over 100 different parfaits to choose from and I chose one with a cute bear head on the top. We were lucky this place was open at 10.30pm when we walked in because most of Japan, even the big cities like Kyoto, close at 9pm. For Miyazu it's 8pm, and for ATMs and banks it's 4pm.

The last saw all the Tango JETs meet in Kawaramachi for some shopping and a meal at a curry restaurant that had been recommended to us by our fellow Kyoto City AETs. First I had to pick up a gift for the secret Santa at Simon's Christmas party the coming weekend, then we met up for one of the best curries I had ever eaten – as good as the ones in Maizuru – and more giant naan. The Indian waiter was pretty good at English and told us about his home, giving us brochures of the fancy hotel restaurants he'd worked at previously. Then it was back home to Miyazu on the late night train with work in the morning.