Around twice a week, I drive out to Satsumachuo High School. My parents know this as “the farm school”, since many students are enrolled in agricultural and technical-based courses. This school often has fresh vegetables, bread, jams, and other goodies on sale. The students are friendly, and considering the (lack of) utility English has for most of their futures, surprisingly enthusiastic about English. Mostly.
One of the ongoing subplots of my 45-minute drives to Satsumachuo has been “the boar”. Two or three times last year, when driving back from this school, I saw what seemed to be a boar in a field by the side of the road. Since then, several people have been subjected to my obsession with the boar. “Is it really a boar? Have you seen it? Why is it there? Is it a pet?” I spend quite a bit of time talking about it with Yoshino, Homan-sensei, and several other folks familiar with the area. I’ve even sent messages to my family after I saw it. For the past three or four months, though, nary a sight. I told myself that I ever saw the boar again, I would stop to get pictures and talk to the owner, if I saw him or her nearby.
Well, guess what? 2019 is the year of the boar! (No, really, it is.)
Just to make sure, I asked the old man nearby if this was an イノシシ (inoshishi, boar), which he confirmed. My developing Japanese isn’t quite conversational yet, but I was able to figure out that he keeps him as a kind of pet and that he doesn’t really like strangers. Well, I actually didn’t need much Japanese for that second part, because most of the time I took pictures, the boar was chasing me around.
The beginning of spring in Japan signals, like most countries, lots of local festivals and outside activities. For me, it also signals uncomfortable heat and seasonal allergies. But let’s focus on the positive!
お花見 (ohanami, cherry-blossom viewing) is famous in Japan. It may sound sophisticated, but really it’s just eating and drinking in the park while looking at the blooming cherry trees. But every part of that sounds great, doesn’t it?
Yoshi and I also spent an afternoon on Akune Oshima, a little island that’s crowded in the summer but other times of the year just has a few fishermen, some very friendly deer, and beautiful bayside views. (Video posted to Facebook, because no I would not like to upgrade to premium WordPress, kthxbye.)
I was also able to enjoy Kushikino’s Tuna Festival this past week. You may THINK you’ve got an idea of how many different ways to prepare tuna, but you’d be wrong. Imagine Bubba from Forrest Gump talking about tuna instead of shrimp, and you’d have an idea of what you could buy at this festival. The rain put a bit of damper on the experience, though Yoshi, Yanagi-sensei, and I were still able to enjoy まぐろ饅 (maguroman, tuna-filled steamed bun) and some tuna sushi before leaving.
Satsumasendai, Sakurajima, and Spencer-sensei 