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honorh
2009-02-23 12:51 am UTC (link)

Cool! I've thought about transferring once my contract in Iwate is up, just to visit different parts of Japan. Akita's on my list of possibilities. I've been here in Kamaishi about six months teaching English. You?

Morioka's a pretty nice little city. They have the most fabulous imported-foods shop. I stop in once a month to stock up on cheese, oatmeal and anything else that catches my fancy.

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caito
2009-02-23 12:58 am UTC (link)

Akita's much snowier than Iwate; it's an effect of the Sea of Japan, and mainland China beyond that. But I think it's about the same, temperature-wise.

Just so you know. Having slipped on the ice on my way to school this morning, weather's on the forefront of my mind.

Have you ever had wanko soba in Morioka? It's their local specialty where they serve bowls of noodles super-fast and you have to eat as many as you can, as fast as you can. We went and had that and the guys I was with averaged around 100 bowls (the lowest was 75, the highest 127). They were pretty chuffed until we realized there was a skinny middle-aged housewife who'd already beasted 300+ bowls. Apparently she's a local celebrity who's also a major player on the competitive eating circuit. CRAZYCAKES.

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honorh
2009-02-23 06:29 am UTC (link)

I'm from Alaska, so snowy weather (we've got sleet today, ick) doesn't bother me too much. In fact, I requested northern Japan specifically because I'm a wimpy little flower in hot weather.

No, never had that. I haven't spent nearly as much time in the cities as I'd like. Around here, there's just nothing to do in the evenings if you don't like hanging out at bars or pachinko palaces. For the upcoming break, I'm thinking about hitting Kyoto and maybe a few other cities. Well, Tokyo and Sendai are definitely on the list 'cause they've got the night bus routes I'm thinking of taking, but we'll see how far my money goes.

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	taktuk 2009-02-25 11:31 am UTC (link)
	Where in Alaska? I grew up on the 'Slope myself, and am down in Fairbanks for college. If I could even learn Inupiat decently I figure I'd be good enough at grammar-fu to learn another language... but that's not happened yet. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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