Hang Ten (or at least get up to your knees!)

FANTASTIC WEEKEND.

This weekend started out fantastic, ended fantastic... couldn't have asked for better, really. :) It started off with a nice rainy half day at home (I took off from work because I had Daikyu to take and just took the rest of the 3 hours off too). It was really lovely to sleep in, laze around, get my paper products strung together, clean, buy some stuff for the house, and get ready for the rest of the weekend. That night, was eating and drinking at its best. Me, Bee, Ireland, Scotland, and Jar went to Nahari hotel to eat and drink all we could for 3500 yen at a Hokkaido food festival. It was basically like a giant enkai. The food was buffet style, so you could go up and get as much as you wanted, and the drinks were endless (delicious Ume-chuhi and beer). The food was stupendous, there was this one dish I wish I could have eaten more of. It was potatoes, salmon, veggies, and CHEESE baked in a dish. There was also amazing crab nabe and circular koroque. Me and Jar and Ireland sang Karaoke songs when it came to that part of the night, and I challenged Jar's co-workers in hashiken (the janken chopstick drinking game). Me and Bee decided to skip the last train and crashed at Ireland's house for the night.

Woke up the next morning at 6:15 to get on the 6:30 train back to Aki so I could sleep in my own bed, take a shower, and finish packing for the surf camp over the long weekend. It was raining, and I was worried that the 3.5 hour drive would take longer and the surf camp would be shitty... but that was totally not the case. We made it in perfect time (got there at 12:20 for the 1:00 start time), and even picked up Holly at Kochi station along the way. The drive was gorgeous, if not a little abunai. Once most people had gotten there, we went over to Bruce's "Hata Surf Dojo" and suited up in rash guards and board shorts. Then we were assigned a board according to height. The rain, at that point, was really light, so it really wasn't a nuisance and only made it so that we didn't have sun in our eyes. We got to the beach, practiced balance points and then went out into the water to catch some waves (with out standing). Once we did that for awhile, we came back in to practice standing and popping up (which was by far the hardest considering my weak-ass arms). We played around in the ocean for awhile even when the rain started coming down harder. Once it got too tiring, we went back to Bruce's place to change, get showered and wait for the amazing feast that was ahead of us. Bruce made the most amazing food for us. We had pumpkin soup, pesto pasta, taco rice, home-made pizza, chicken, garlic bread, and enough beer to kill a man. I was staying with Amy, so we left a little early (10:00ish) but I really appreciated the good food, not too much beer, and a REALLY good night's sleep.

We woke up the next morning at 8:00 so that we could get ready, eat, and be at Bruce's by 9:30 to start the next lesson. During the night, the clouds had cleared and left the most amazingly blue and clear sky. It was a perfect day to be outside and we were allowed to surf with Bruce's boards until 4:00pm. I got to the point where I was so exhausted I couldn't push myself up any more (good time to stop, I'd say). Unfortunately, that day left me with a little sunburned cheeks (but well worth it). We all set up camp at the camp site and got food ready for the BBQ that we ended up having on the beach (with a bonfire!!). Me and beer buddy chatted and we all ate so much amazing meat and veggies. A bunch of us went to bed around midnight, and I woke up at about 8:15 to get things put together so we could do yoga. Yoga wasn't on the beach (as originally planned) because the sun was just so hot and direct, but we all did yoga at the campsite, and it really helped to make my muscles feel better and more relaxed. 

A three hour drive later, I ended up exhausted at home (and unfortunately had to cancel some plans). Instead, me and De- made curry and watched "ダリングは外国人" which was actually the first romantic movie I've ever seen in Japan. It was sufficiently awkward but cute and me and De- had a good time laughing at it and dissecting the awkward parts. :)

Surfing on Sunday was AWESOME and gorgeous!