Sightseeing in Nag and another End-of-Year enkai

It’s spring holidays but teachers are still expected to go to school. However, we can arrive a little later, leave a little earlier, and everyone is dressed down, very relaxed atmosphere. There was another end-of-year enkai for the English teachers tonight which I was going to go to straight from school. Sheila and Alice were going to spend the day downtown, and we were going to meet up later in the evening, after the enkai.

I arrived at school around 9am, and although some teachers are very busy with meetings, I don’t have too much to do. When my supervisor found out that I had friends visiting, she said ‘you go spend the day with your friends, just come back before we head to the party together. Don’t worry about taking nenkyu (paid holiday), go have a good time!’. What a nice lady :)

So I spent most of the day downtown with Sheila and Alice. I took them sight seeing around the city. We started off at Suwa Shrine. It was founded in the 1600s during the time when the government was trying to stamp out Christianity. Suwa shrine is considered one of the most important Shinto shrine in Nagasaki and is the site of the famous autumn festival called Kunchi. I once read somewhere that the Kunchi festival is known as one of the Japan’s three great festivals and is unique in that the performances reflect Nagasaki’s history of international exchange. Below is a picture of the view leading up to Suwa Shrine from the bottom of the stairs.

Here's another as we get closer to Suwa shrine.

As we make out way to the top, we can see cherry blossoms on either side.

What makes Nagasaki one of Japan’s more interesting places to visit is the fact that it was the only place in all of Japan that had contact with the outside world for almost 300 years. As a result, there’s a lot of foreign influence (mostly Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese) to be found here. Also, Nagasaki is all lush green hills, it's beautiful.

We went by the site of the 26 Martyrs. Although I've been here for almost a year and half, this was the first time that I visited the hill of the 26 martyrs.

In the 1500s, a law was passed banning Christianity in Japan. Christians were brought to Nagasaki from Osaka and Kyoto to be excuted on this hill where now stands a large monument. There's a church as well as a museum which displays information about the persecution of the Christians. Here we are in front of the museum, the outside of which is covered in mozaic.

When we got to the Atomic Bomb museum, Sheila went in while Alice and I waited in the park. Alice had recently visited the Hiroshima museum and didn't feel up to seeing the Nagasaki museum. I've been in several times, and it's always difficult to see the effects of the bomb... It's sometimes hard to believe that it happened only 60 years ago.

Right outside the Atomic Bomb museum is the Hypocenter. A large monument marks the spot above which the bomb was dropped.

The Peace Park is just a few minutes walk away. There are monuments/statues representing peace that have been donated from countries around the world.

After the Peace Park, Alice and Sheila stayed downtown, while I headed back to school.

Later in the evening was the end-of-year enkai for the English teachers at Seiryo. Since I don't drink, I gave some teachers a ride to the enkai. We had a little trouble finding the restaurant, but eventually made it there.

On our way there, one of the teachers said she had been looking forward to the dinner, and was a little disappointed to found out that one (of the many) dishes was going to be fugu (blowfish). I remember reading in a Dave Barry book that, every year, there are people who die from eating blowfish that has not been prepared correctly. Apparently blowfish is a delicacy and is very expensive. It's raw lungs of the blowfish, I think, I'm not sure. I asked the teacher to point out the blowfish when it is served.

Voila raw blowfish lungs, a delicacy in Japan. Though poisonous if not prepared correctly, still very well-liked by many.

The dishes served at enkais are very elaborate, the food is beautifully presented. The dinner included the following (amongst other things):

This is a HUGE shrimp.

There are 13 English teachers at Seiryo, 5 of whom will be transferring to a new school. Included in the teachers who are leaving is my supervisor. I'm sad to see them go, I wonder what the new teachers will be like.