Indonesian Week and Oita

The week after Korean Week was Indonesian Week. They had the same things as everyone else with trying on clothes and great food in the cafeteria for lunch. They also had these little dough balls that had chocolate chips and honey inside that were a great ending to lunch(they made them in takoyaki pans which I talk about later on in this blog post). On Friday I waited in line with a couple of my friends so we could get a good seat. We waited for about 2 hours and then were finally let inside. We were near the front of the line but still had problems finding seats since everyone was saving seats for other people. We found a section that was still open thank goodness- since last time we had to sit on the ground which was not very comfortable. The show started and the audience got quiet. The story was about a boy who was very conseeded and obcessed with himself because he was the most attractive boy in the village. He had a stalker that desperately wanted to be his girlfriend so she set a spell on the girl that he actually liked. He asked for help from an old man to bring her back to normal which worked and they lived happily ever after.
In the middle of the story there was an act where about 16 girls came on stage and sat nealed in a row. They did amazing acts just by moving their arms in different sequences. It looked so awesome- and definitely made the whole play my favorite so far.
After we watched the show, a bunch of us went downtown to hang out at the beach before going to Beppu tower. It was ladies night so we all went to get in for free. Normally it isn't very much fun but that night was awesome. There were a ton of people there and almost all of our friends went also.
The next day, one of the other people in my program, my buddy, and I went to the next biggest town over called Oita. We went really early in the morning so I was pretty tired but I am glad I went. I expected the city to be similar to Beppu but it is completely different. There is so much more to do and it seems so much bigger. We went to two different 7 story department stores that day- where I had a problem of not being able to stop shopping. The style here is very different than America which I don't mind. Some of the things are very interesting, especially the shirts that are written in English but are completely incorrect. I've gotten myself some of those to take back to America.
We later stopped for lunch in a spaghetti bar. The spaghetti is a little different here since they use wheat noodles that are a little harder than what we have in America. All of the foods here are not nearly as processed as they are in America so they don't last as long but they taste so much fresher. I know that I am going to miss the fresh fruits and vegetables here when I leave.
After shopping we looked around the city a little more and then went back to APU.
Some of the people from my program were having a たこやき (takoyaki) party on the first floor of my building. Takoyaki octopus balls that are made in a certain kind of electric frying pan. There is a special way that they have to be turned so that it is cooked well all over. The outside is slightly crispy and the inside is doughy and has chewy pieces of octopus. I had some of that before taking a nap. When I woke up, a couple of us watched the semi-finals of the World Cup before doing my homework and going to bed. Then on Sunday I went to the Jigoku with some of my friends.






This is the finished product- from pancake like batter with octopus pieces to small dough balls. Yes that is large amounts of mayonnaise on it. This is the traditional Fukuoka way of eating takoyaki.