Gold leaf and smelly fish

Had another good class today.  I love the text book we’re using – it has no English, except a couple of headings.  Gives the brain quite a workout.

With Sakurai Sensei in class

I learnt a new verb today, but I’m not game to use it.  It is ‘majiwaru’, which means ‘to cross, to intersect, to join, to meet’ – and it also means ‘to have a sexual relationship, to copulate’.  I think that this might be a word best avoided by the inexperienced foreigner!  I was trying to learn how to say ‘to cross the bridge’, but I’ll find another expression to use.  Just in case it comes out as ‘Do you fancy a quickie under the bridge?’.

After class we had a gathering to talk about our day trip to Kaga Onsen on Saturday, then, with one of the staff from the school, we mad our way on foot to the Gold Leaf Museum.  We all chose a black plate to decorate and then stuck stencils on the plate, put glue where the gold leaf was to go and gently pressed the thin gold leaf onto it.  The staff then took our masterpieces away and (I think) put some kind of coating over the designs, then dried them with a heater.  We then all did the excited tourist thing and took lots of photos of each other.  It’s actually a very nice souvenir of Kanazawa.  One of the stencils I chose was “Kanazawa” written in kanji.

My artistic creation

Our friendly guide then took us to the Omicho Markets.  This is a big fish market which, besides fish, sells all manner of wriggly thingies from the sea and packets of dried thingies from the sea, as well as fruit and veg, bags, clothes etc.  I roamed with Ulla and Jasmine until we were all marketed out.

Omicho Market

We went back to the school to send emails and put our feet up for a while, then Ulla and I went to the shopping centre near the station.  She had heard that it is possible to get glasses (of the spectacles type) very cheaply in Japan – and she wasn’t wrong!!  She’s ordered a pair of glasses which will be ready before we leave next weekend, for a total price of about $85.00!  I’ll be looking at doing the same when we return here in November.  I had to go and catch my bus while she was still dealing with the glasses folk, so I’ll hear tomorrow if she successfully accomplished her mission.

Unique statue!

After another spectacular dinner, I had the interesting experience of doing my ironing while kneeling on a tatami mat tonight.  Well, ‘when in Japan…’.

I have to make my speech in class tomorrow, and after that I can relax and just listen to my fellow students make their speeches next week.  I was going to discuss the complexities of the current state of world politics -but I changed my mind.