Notes on Drinking.

Where to start...

The week previous to this one was basically not much more than a drinking fest, and I suppose that is what I will tell of in part.
Us foreign teachers here in Kagoshima had a Teacher Seminar in Kumamoto (which, if you were from Kenya, translates exactly as, "hot pussy" [no joke], and therefore I feel compelled to do my Kenyan neighbour a favour and translate it as such from here on in).

So come last Wednesday I headed to a new part of Japan to give a lecture on 'Japanese Culture and Societal Ethics' to other foreign teachers.
I met some great new people; surprisingly really awesome, and thankfully my presentation was on the first day, so that I didn't have to try to do it while being dreadfully hagard the next day.
Unfortunately for other teachers giving presentations on Day 2 of this meeting, they could not help but try to fight their hang-overs.
While in (Hot Pussy), I met the guy who oversees things in that area for our company, named Dominic Walker, who continually made references to himself in the third person as D.W.
Example (after someone took a photo which he was also in): "Oy! Look at Dee Dubyah in this one! Fuckin' handsome bloke, that one!"
This is the man who will be filling in as P.S. for Kagoshima when our current P.S. (who is awesome) leaves.
As if it all wasn't enough to make one want to drink everything inaudible, he also had a thick British accent that became increasingly difficult to understand, and much more vulgar.
There's really something to be said for the vulgar capabilities the British have.
He also called me J-Dawg in-between his rants about how awesome Dee Dubyah is, so if any religious folk are about to judge me for the Sin of (alchohol-related) Gluttony, the plus side is that I didn't knock him out.
I can't remember which Sin is more deadly, Anger or Gluttony.
Probably Gluttony, which would explain my physical state of being the next day.

Anyway, aside from D.W., (Hot Pussy) was fantastic.
On the second day a couple of us walked up to the top of (Hot Pussy) Castle with a bottle of wine and sat on the grass in the cold fall/winter breeze and discussed everything from Japanese politics to "what the leaves say when they're rustling".
I voted that the leaves are saying "shhhhhhhhh", that is, if they're speaking English.
Terrible puns aside, it was a great two days in (Hot Pussy).

I returned to Kagoshima in perfect concordance with お原祭り ** , and ended up spending the next two days in Kagoshima City without returning to Kokubu (where I live, for those of you who haven't kept up).
On the second day there was an Art and Music Fest happening in a large park in the middle of the city (Tenmonkan), and on the way walking there my friend and I had to worm our way through thousands of people who were dancing up and down the streets, accompanied by the beats of the largest Taiko (drums) you've probably ever seen. On days like these, there is free drinks for those dancing, and so in a 15 minute interval you'll have this same large number of people rushing every which-way to get their hands on some tasty Sweet Potato Shochu (strong alchohol, made from exactly what is stated in it's title).
Although I didn't dance in the 祭り (festival), this is where my drinking on this day began, at 3pm on the dot, with a cup of Shochu hospitably being shoved into my hands.
I had absolutely no money on me this day, borrowed a total of 30 cents, and somehow maintained a steady 1/4 - 3/4 drunk until 6am, the following morning.
A personal record, especially considering that I only came out losing 30 cents.
You gotta love Festivals.

- じぇし～

^"Jesse" in Hiragana.

**Romanji = O-Hara Matsuri
English (direct translation) = Big-Stomach Festival