Gemma!

I spent the past two weeks or so with my friend Gemma who was visiting from Scotland/England (she lives part time in both places so not really sure what to put....).  She had lived in Tsuyama at the same time I was living there and is one of the people I have managed to stay in touch with.  So much so that she came to my wedding in Iowa and I went to her house last Christmas.  She is a good friend but not someone I normally would have thought I would get along with.  For starters, she is really sporty and is extremely knowledgeable about the outdoors.  Also, we are both nerds who like to read, but she is really into fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery while I stick to anything but.  She also listens to heavy metal and rock while I prefer pop and folk.  In other words, if we had met in high school or uni we wouldn't have hung out.  But because we were stuck in the middle of nowhere and were two out of about 4 foreign women, we became friends and have stayed in touch.

So back to now.  Gemma came over and though I had work I managed to spend a lot of quality time with her. I took her to Nagoya where she had never been and showed her Meji-Mura ( an outdoor museum that features reconstructed building from the Japanese Meji period) as well as the night- life there.  We were able to meet up with our friend Justin (who also used to live in Tsuyama but not at exactly the same time) and had a night out at Outback Steakhouse (poor Gemma, travels to Japan only to eat hamburgers but I couldn't resist the temptation of real western food) and karaoke.  Actually, that was the thing that Gemma and I probably bonded over most despite our lack of mutual interest in artists.  We discovered that we both love Mumford and Sons and Everything by Pitbull (ok,so maybe she doesn't love that song but she did join me).

We also had a night out with former Tsuyama residents Adam and Vany plus Adam's girlfriend Wakako.  I especially enjoyed this night as we went to a Brazillian bar which I hadn't done before.  It is actually a little known fact outside of Japan that there are a ton of Brazillians living in Japan.  It isn't until you get here that you can see what a big presence they have, especially in cities like Nagoya.  Anyway, the Brazillian bar turned out to be more like a small family restaurant with a man playing live tunes on his guitar and people practicing the samba.  Though it may have been because we were with Wakako who is a regular at the bar, we were welcomed into the fold as soon as we entered and even danced with the owner.

Besides going to Nagoya we also made a small day trip to Yamauchi prefecture with Motoaki and our other friend, Crystal.  Gemma had asked to "see nature," so we went to the biggest cave in Japan.  I had been there before on one of my first dates with Motoaki, but it has been awhile and was a nice way to excersize while being indoors.  We also went to some hills that looked a lot like Ireland or Scotland (again, sorry Gemma) and some rocks that were split as the result of an Earthquake.  I should have taken pictures but have gotten out of practice due to everyone always taking pictures and putting them on Facebook.

And of course most importantly was the time Gemma got to spend with Finn.  Gemma can be very strict with dogs and can be a harsh critic of their training.  I was worried she wold find him spoiled and naughty, but she said that for a puppy he was "fair."  We'll take it.

In all honestly it was good to see an old friend and to know that just because people move away it doesn't mean that they are lost forever.  I have met some of the most amazing people in Japan due to the fact that they are from all over and that we are forced to interact and become family.  A lot of people only stay a year, though, and it can be hard to constantly say good-bye.  It's nice when they sometimes come back.