So I'm at work today, on a Sunday, with nothing to do since it's a PTA day. At least I get a replacement holiday tomorrow to do... nothing.

Anyway, I get to school and the first thing my Vice Princepal asks me is if I know what 避難訓練
is, and I say no (cept that I know it's some kind of class). He then motions things for fire, earthquake, and we act out a kidnapping scene, and he asks me for an English translation of all this. I come up with `danger prevention... class`, though after consulting my dictionary, I come up with `evacuation training`. Kyoto-sensei nods, writes this down and returns to what he was doing.

I like this fresh and novel way to learn new vocab, but I wish they'd give me a little bit more of a segue between 'hello' and 'do you know what this is??'

Speaking of new things, I finally went to the one restaurant in town on Friday. I've been trying to go to this restaurant for the the last 4 months, but everytime they were closed or were tending to an　宴会　(think wacky food and drink party). I eventually thought they just didn't want my money, but twas not the case.

However, since I was the only one in the restaurant, the owner came over and talked with me for about 2 hours. He had lived in the town all his life, but went to Tokyo to learn cooking. Now in his thirties, he wants to travel around but can't since he is the only one who cooks in the restaurant (he can't train an apprentice cause there are nothing but grandmas in town), he can never take more than two days off at a time. He also let me know how tough traffic laws here in Japan are, as he was caught on the highway last year speeding without his seat belt on, and they took away his liscence for a year. Basically, due to the restaurant's hours and the lack of a car, he had been home all year playing his DS and not getting out. Even parties were a hassle for him since he runs the restaurant until about 10pm, and that`s just about when a drinking party has hit its peak in Japan. Generally, pretty sad story all around. Since a JET's work/drinking schedule is pretty lax, I promised him I'd invite him over whenever I planned to down some Sake. He seemed genuinely pleased with that.

I just found it amazing that we communicated in Japanese for almost 2 hours, on a broad range of topics, without me scrambling for my dictionary. It's been tough to really get out there and talk to people, but it seems like a little persistance pays off in folds.