Umeboshi... yum.

Good lord, how did it get to be the fifth? This is crazy. This past week has been Golden Week, a momentous occasion in Japan where there are several national holidays all together and some kind employers let their minions take the days off inbetween to allow the poor sods to have a whole week of holiday. Unfortunately the thought of so much free time scares the poor souls, so when faced with a whole week off they flock to English classes. Some seem to come because they like studying, but no, I can`t quite work that one out.
On Sunday a couple of Iain`s Bowlie mates stopped off as part of their world tour. So far they`d been to India and were spending a week or so here before hitting Thailand. I couldn`t resist pumping them with advice (wanted or otherwise) about where to go and what to eat. I also put in a plug for Helen`s guesthouse in Pai. It made me terribly nostalgic - again. We went to Kei`s for a few beers and Tacos. Darius and I sat in the corner and listened politely while Iain, Dan and James talked about obscure twee Indie bands. Kei proposed a barbeque for Monday night, so on Monday morning I raced back to Kanayama to pick up clean clothes before dashing out to Takabata to teach some decidedly ropey lessons. Thankfully I had nice students all day. I went back to Inuyama in the evening and followed the scent of roasting meat wafting down the road. I`ve not eaten much meat since I`ve got out here, its expensive to buy in the supermarket so I`ve been cooking mostly veggie stuff (tofu is cheap) and eating meat when I go out (when it would be impossible to eat only veggie stuff anyway). I think I could just about be a vegetarian if it wasn`t for barbecues, and grilled meat. Mmm, my mouth`s watering just typing that. I got to Inuyama just before 10, perfectly timed to gobble chicken and steak. Delicious. Kei`s house is enormous, and the proportions and decor reminded me of the house I stayed at in Canada though I doubt Kei`s house has quite as many neurotic students. After all that food we went back to the flat and sat around playing guitars for a bit before heading for bed.
On Tuesday Iain came down to Nagoya and we had a quiet night watching In and Out (old Kevin Klein film I hadn`t seen) and hit the sack pretty early to make up for sunday and monday nights.