John Stupart.com

That has been the dominant theme of the week for me. It seems as I ask more and more things in my halting and stunted pidgin Japanese strangers become more and more curious. Being this close to Wakkanai and all, they’re firstly amazed that I’m not Russian, and then even more surprised when they find out I’m not American either. Of course, being a functional illiterate in Japanmeans I can’t really say much more about my South African-ness in the language, but that doesn’t seem to really matter much. They’re generally just amazed that someone from so very far away is here in the middle of nowhere, eating their ramen and swigging their sake, as it were.

Saturday saw myself and Heather trolling the mean streets of little Russia again, with me looking for a haircut. She knew a barber in town who could speak a bit of Engrish, which meant I might not wind up with a Mohawk (I didn’t.) Turns out, after trading information on my nationality, that my new favourite barber (the Palestinian in Melville can’t touch this guy!) knows quite a few high-ranking officers in the Japanese Navy. Me being the military-phile that I am meant that I now have his phone number and his mine in anticipation of the next battleship or destroyer that might come into port. It’s all about the networking ek se!

We also visited a large park/playground, where I was graced with my first ever sighting of a chipmunk. A real, live chipmunk… I was suitably impressed at this momentous mammal-related memory, and I’m sure my readers are too! A chipmunk people! Screw the big five, it’s a chipmunk! The park afforded some beautiful views of the neighbouring lake, as well as the local fauna. In winter there are a few slides and slopes and whatnot, which would probably make for some good sledding I’d imagine. Needless to say a winter visit is required to get the full park-like experience. 

The Wakkanai Park – and what you cannot do in it…

The Chipmunk! Doing its thing…

Mr Chipmunk Posing

Awesome Spider. Heather wouldn’t let me feed the smaller spider we found as an offering to his awesomness.

Sunday saw me playing this bastardized elephant-man version of golf native to Hokkaido. Called ‘Park Golf’, it’s an odd mixture of ‘Mashie’ 3 par holes, putt-putt and croquet. If one could imagine putt-putt with everything twice as big, that would be park golf in a nutshell. I played with the Hama-Tonbetsu high school ALT Chris (a towering American guy who can reduce small Japanese kids to tears with just his ear piercings) and his vice-principal. He was also quite interested in me being South African and all, and was quite pleased that there were so many (clearly superior?) Toyota’s, Mazda’s and Nissan-built cars in SA. Needless to say, trying to explain that this is largely due to American sanctions against us during apartheid was both impossible with my language inability, nor conducive to good internationalization! Park golf is a lazy two or three hours in the sun and pine forests of the countryside, and is quite easy to get the hang of. Definitely something to try at least once in your life just so you can say you have!

Monday saw my return to Wakkanai on a rather blustery, rainy day. The was definitely NOT calm and the sea gulls were struggling to simply stay in the air, let alone catch anything to eat. We wound up in what is probably the town’s only Udon shop for lunch, and it’s fast becoming one of my favourite eateries in Japan! Udon is basically a thick white wheat-based noodle served in a hot soup of your choice. Sprinkle some spicy flakes of unknown origin and it’s a great meal. The stuff isn’t very popular outside of southern Japan for some reason, but I think I love it more than Sushi these days. Regardless, once I leave Japan, I don’t think I’ll be able to look at seafood the same way ever again, much less spaghetti or any other Mimmo’s pasta!

In all a rather sedentary weekend, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. My new quest for the week is to book a room/booth at a local restaurant so I can watch SA thrash the Argies in the World Cup semi-finals. Here’s to hoping!