weekend adventures

And it's time for my Sunday night post about my weekend! It was pretty busy and lots of fun. :D

On Friday I left work an hour early (thanks to some overtime I put in during the week) to go to a barbecue for new JETs near Tokyo hosted by the US Embassy! It was a good thing I left early, too, because even though I got to Roppongi Station around 5:30, I didn't actually find my way to the housing compound until after 6. -.-' (Though in my defense, it seemed like everybody had a hard time finding it.) It was pretty cool to be inside the compound, which as far as I know is where people who work at the embassy live, and which definitely felt like its own little world. The buildings were very distinctive and not like most Japanese apartments, and apparently they even had public trash cans on the streets (which you can't find in Japan), though I didn't notice any.

The barbecue itself was also great, though all the food was (homemade and delicious) Mexican food so technically I don't think you could call it a barbecue. I got to meet the US Ambassador to Japan, a lot more people from the Embassy, people from CLAIR, and a lot of other JETs from nearby prefectures, which was really, really awesome. Being able to get this sort of opportunity to meet people and see places that I wouldn't be able to otherwise, even living in Japan, is one of the things I really appreciate about being part of the JET program (not to sound like a promotional pamphlet or anything). But really. :)

And then on Saturday I went to the Central Library to do an English storytime for their reading festival. I showed up an hour in advance so that we could rehearse one more time and prepare, and then it was time to do it! It took place in the atrium of the library, which is actually really beautiful - there's a huge set of stairs that go up to the third floor of the building and a little fountain, along with some sculptures of books. There weren't too many people there at first but slowly the stairs (where they were sitting) started to fill up. So I did a quick self-introduction about myself and my hometown and then read through the three books we had picked. To be honest I doubt any of the kids had any idea what was going on, but they (and their parents) seemed pretty attentive, which was gratifying. And then we did Head Shoulders Knees and Toes together, which was pretty fun and got the kids excited again, and then English storytime was over. They were having me give the kids high-fives after getting stamps for their stamp rally when my coworkers came over! I had noticed Hirata-san there while I was reading, but I was completely surprised to see Satou-san and his family (even though he had warned me that they might come, haha). It was nice to meet his wife and son, who was asleep but adorable. And then Hirata-san and I went upstairs to check out their exhibit on sister cities (using stuff they had borrowed from our section) before parting ways.

After that I spent a little time shopping around Chiba Station before meeting up with a bunch of Chiba AJETs to go go-kart racing! I'd never done it before and it was a little bit harder than I expected (lots of sharp turns on the course), but lots of fun. I managed to improve my lap time every time (we managed to go three times) and ended up with a best time under thirty seconds, which I was pretty happy with. It was a little expensive (though 2000 yen cheaper for girls, maybe because they probably don't get as many), but I got to meet some more new people and hang out with some who I hadn't seen in a while, which is always great. After that we got some dinner and went to HUB again for a bit before heading home.

And then this morning, having finally successfully convinced Cory to go to Costco with me, I headed off to Makuhari! I got to the station a lot earlier than I needed to, so I spent some time enjoying coffee and a malasada (Hawaiian donut?) in the beautiful fall morning weather before getting on the wrong bus to Costco. Oops. But I got there, and after getting a membership (which is apparently valid worldwide) we were in Costco! It was pretty much exactly like Costco in the states, down to the food court options, which was awesome. I didn't actually end up buying very much, but I'll probably be back there sometime. :)

The weather was really nice and the inside was crowded, so Cory and I had Costco lunch outside, which was great. And then after that I headed off to Nitori, which is a 'home fashion store' to buy an extra futon for when my family comes next month! I also got a super cozy blanket for my now-functional kotatsu, which is super exciting. So today was a successful shopping day. :D