The Old Man is Snoring

The Japanese call this season tsuyu. Meaning rainy season. A rather unfortunate season for people who only have a bike for their mode of transportation. Luckily, or rather unluckily, due to climatic differences in the weather, most likely the cause of global warming, the rain this year is rather tame. Not even in comparison (I would have nothing to compare it to anyway), just tame even for what I was expecting. From the stories I heard. Yes, there have been days where it has come down in sheets, but usually it is at a very convenient time. When I am indoors. Knock on wood. This past week it has been cloudy and the rain has come everyday in some way, shape or form. I have a love hate relationship with rain, so my weather emotions have been all over the place. This week I have been liking it much more than I thought I would. Maybe I will give it a second chance. It is just really inconvenient when I have to ride to school and I am wet as I start the day. Even with my cool rain slicker outfit. The other day though I rode in it to go swimming and since I was getting wet anyway it obviously didn't matter. I don't know if it is because I had that in mind, but it was invigorating riding to the pool. It felt refreshing and tasted like Japan. A little strange, but still pretty good. And I did taste it. While I was waiting to cross the street. At a big intersection. If I don't get stared at enough already...

Things here are picking up once again and I could not be more welcoming of the crowded schedule that awaits me for July. As much as I probably wouldn't ever say this when I am busy, I would rather be busy than bored. Last summer I had no time to breathe and I`m sure I complained about not having time, but after a year of more time than I have ever had before, I think busy is always the way to go. Sitting around thinking of things to do isn't for the young and free like me!

Because of that I will be adventuring to the prefecture a bit northeast of here for some good times and great oldies. Or great newbies I should say. I am going with two friends who are in the mood for a change of scenery like me, and I have no doubts that is what we will have. We will be heading out tomorrow night, taking a overnight ferry that docks at Yawatahama in the early morning. We will then step out onto Shikoku soil where our five day adventure awaits us. This road trip consists of visiting other ALTs, going swimming with dolphins, hiking, white water rafting, museums, shrines, good food, and fun exploring. Shikoku is straight inaka which roughly translates into country bumpkin land. It is not a high tourist prefecture but it is supposed to be beautiful with enough for new folk like us to do on our trip. So we will be packing the car full of tasty snacks, good tunes and high spirits as we take a drive around the beautiful Japanese countryside.

Upon returning from Shikoku I have a feeling the end of my journey will be quite the whirlwind. Not only am I going to have to pack all of my things (its amazing all of the stuff your acquire in just one year) and close out my accounts, but I am going to be going to goodbye parties, a train enkai, row boating in a gorge, visiting a Japanese friend in her home town, staying in a cabin by a waterfall, swimming in the ocean and of course just going to all of my favorite places one last time. That is all going to be done in only 4 weeks. And then the goodbyes will start which I can`t even think about. It is not going to be easy by any means. It is so strange to think that I will be back in Colorado in only one month and 2 days.

With the days I am going to be gone, end of the year tests and closing ceremonies, I only have eight days left of teaching. EIGHT. I have really mixed feelings about that because the teaching this past semester has been better--I have really enjoyed most of my classes and all of the teachers I teach with. That will be sad, but I am more than ready to be finished sitting in the office. It is hard to get sad or excited right now because although the job has been challenging for me in so many ways this year, it has been such a positive experience. From the teachers I have met to the things I have learned, I will never forget teaching English in Japan. Even if there are moments where I want to...With that being said though, I am ready to move on to the next stage of my career. To the next stage of life. What will be difficult to move on from is the culture and the beauty of this place. I know I have said it time and time again, but it never fails to amaze me how gorgeous Japan really is. In so many ways. The hardest part will be bidding farewell to the people. I have carved out such big part of my heart for my friends here so the empty feeling will not go unnoticed. Here I am trying not to think about it, but writing it anyway. It hasn't fully hit me yet. I don`t think it will until the time comes.

I will post pictures of Shikoku when I get back and I`m sure I will find time to write about my last adventures in Kumamoto. Here is to the last month in Japan! No doubt it will be just as unforgettable as the previous eleven. Cheers!

It's all about NAGASAKI

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to venture to the exciting and modern city of Nagasaki. I had been wanting to go there pretty much since I got here and Jess and I finally found a free weekend to make our way out there. It was easy enough and after help from some teachers we were on the bus and on our way. Nagasaki is only about four hours from Kumamoto city, so we woke up early Friday so we could get there by mid day.

The first few minutes after getting off the bus we found a restaurant at the train station that looked like it would do. Well did it ever! We were starving and not only did they have a drink bar where you can get endless refills of your favorite coffee, soda or tea, but they had the one and only Sasebo burger. This burger is famous for its "Western" size and delicious taste. Since there is a Naval base on Sasebo, the island a little south of Nagasaki, the famous burger was invented to fill the stomach of hungry sailors and marines alike. Of course I didn't even think twice when ordering this delicious delicacy and it did not disappoint. Jess and I inhaled the beasts as fast as it would allow us (while taking breaks in between to fill up on more coffee) and were completely and utterly satisfied when we finished our meal and headed to our hostel.

Because I am completely and utterly hopeless at directions I pointed in the exact way I thought the map read which ended up being the exact opposite way of our hostel. We got a good walking tour of the city, but I think it would have been much more enjoyable without having to haul around our luggage. Needless to say, Jess quietly decided she would do most of the navigating from there on out. We finally made it to AKARI, our hostel, in good spirits and a good taste in our mouths from the burgers and the city. Nagasaki was clean, it was lively, it was beautiful. It was everything I hoped for and more. I had been desperate to shake the dust of Kumamoto, and this was just the place to do it.

After a brief relax and shower period we were back in the city looking for a place to put our feet up and just enjoy the night. We started off at a little izakaya or snack bar which is always a homey and relaxing feeling. We spent a few hours talking about anything and everything, just enjoying each others company, of course as always. We then made our way to the part of the city that was supposed to hoppin, but we ran into some interesting characters and some interesting bars. We were obviously lost in the city because, although Japan is FAR from dangerous, there were a lot of places and people that did not really welcome our type. Unless we wanted to pay them huge sums of money. So, laughing, we made our way to the other side of town and walked along the peaceful river, taking pictures of the oldest stone arch bridge in Japan and finally heading in for the night.

Saturday was jam packed with things as we had planned, but the places we went were nothing like I imagined. We started the day at Glover Garden where many European merchants settled in the 1800s, building beautiful colonial style homes that are now open for viewing along with artifacts from their time. I don't know what it is about this time period, but I am completely fascinated with it. I love the way they decorated, the clothes they wore, the way the houses and school houses looked, and especially the smell you get from old fashioned things. That just invigorates me every time. We walked through the houses, through the beautiful garden that kept going up and up and up (there were even escalators and moving sidewalks in the middle of the trees), we gazed at the ponds, watched the turtles swim, listened to the waterfalls, sat in the sun, read about the first asphalt road in Japan, the anchors used to dock the ships, the people who lived there, the entertainment, the relationship between Japan and Europe at the time and just the general way of life. Since Nagasaki was the only open port to the outside world at this time, I can imagine it was bustling with trade and excitement, yet still remained peaceful and of course scenic. The garden overlooked the harbor where we could see the giant ships coming in from sea and the bridge that connects the sides of the crescent island.

After the garden we grabbed some lunch and headed to the Atomic Bomb Museum. This was what I had been looking forward to, and although by no means did it disappoint, I was surprised at how impersonal it seemed. They did an amazing job of demonstrating the utter disaster that took place and had pieces of literally every building within a 5 mile radius of the bomb. They had pictures and videos, they had time lines, they had effects of the people complete with personal stories and accounts. They had facts about radiation, what it does to the body, what it does to an area and displayed the people affected by radiation then and even now with the tests that are still going on today. It was moving and haunting, yet I was not touched how I thought I would be. We spent a long time in the museum and I was fascinated by everything and all of the information and artifacts, and yes, of course it was sad, but I couldn't`t get a good grip on the utter devastation that the bomb caused for the people of Nagasaki. Afterwards Jessica told me that the Hiroshima museum was much more touching and more personal. It was good to know that I wasn't the only one would wasn't as moved as expected. It was still very impressive and very eye-opening.

We left the museum and went to the peace park down the road where the giant peace statue in the middle of the park sent the strong and clear message it was intending. The muscular man statue is pointing to the sky with one hand and holding his other hand out to the side to portray the message of "no more atomic bombs", and overall peace. The park itself was quite beautiful and this man was accompanied with many other peaceful statues and `peace cranes`--origami cranes in all colors strung together by students everywhere to support world peace. The park was just as it was supposed to be--peaceful.

After the park we headed back the the hostel to get showered and changed and then headed to the infamous Chinatown. It had been the talk of all my teachers, all of them insisting that I go there, that they had good food and fun things to do. So Jess and I arrive at 9 at night only to find that Chinatown is CLOSED. Everything is dark save a few neon lights of dragons and two restaurants. How could Chinatown of all places close at 9 pm on at Saturday night? We didn't get it. Maybe it was past midnight China time. Heh heh. Ok that was a bad one. Anyway, we chose one of the two restaurants to go try some Chinese food and I was not impressed. It was barely decent and then we had a man and his friend hassling us with the same old questions we always get asked when we are anywhere in public. After that silly dinner we headed to "Crazy Horse" a little bar with live music and to our surprise, other foreigners! But we stayed at our table since it was just a bunch of old men with their young Japanese girlfriends. It was weird to overhear English, that always somewhat catches me off guard. We listened to music and talked to the owners for a while, just enjoying the easy going atmosphere. Eventually they came and took a picture of us and then proceeded to post it on their wall in between pictures of some long haired band and the Beatles...I think. After Crazy Horse, we stopped by a few other little places, making friends with the owners and being encouraged to come back and visit again. We called it night after a while so we could be ready for Sunday's events.

Sunday morning was a lazy one, after finally leaving the hostel, we found a cute little cafe right down the street that we immediately feel in love with. Jess, a real conisuier of cafes, marked this one at the top of her list, not being able to contain her excitement of our quaint find. We enjoyed a long brunch there and thanked the nice couple over and over for the wonderful hospitality. Our goal that day was to stop by a few of the famous Zen temples in that area and then slowly make our way back to the bus station. We found a few temples, and although beautiful, they were not extremely impressive, so we decided to go to the top of the hill to a park that supposedly had a nice view. Well the hill turned up to be somewhat of a mountain and after hiking up stairs upon stairs through an old cemetery in the midday heat in our Sunday best (aka normal clothes), we decided the parking lot from the top of the hill was as best as we could do. It was quite the view though, I must say. And just because we didn't find the park does not mean that we didn't get everything we wanted out of the hike. Which included lots of sweat and one grand panoramic picture I took from the lot. It got me reved and ready to try and hike a little more when I get home. I forgot how much I love it. After we made it back down we walked around the city a little more, stopped for some guava and mango juice at a chic cafe and then eventually made our way back to the bus station. Luckily we made it just in time for the last bus back to Kumamoto, and hopped on it just in time. The journey home was a long one, but we finally made it and although we were exhausted we wouldn't have traded it for anything. It was an amazing trip and Nagasaki proved to be even better than I expected. And I expected it to be great.

It`s always good to get out of the routine weekend every so often and go on an adventure. Which is why I am thinking about going to Hiroshima at the end of this month. But that all depends on funds and friends. Two out of the four Fs that I value most in my life. And just so there isn't any confusion on what the other Fs are they are food and family. Glad we got that cleared up---that could have been embarrassing for you. So there it is! Nagasaki in a nutshell. Twas quite the nutshell of a trip, but perfect in every way.

Now I am back at school finding it strange to be teaching in June. I feel like I am in the twilight zone for some reason because it doesn't feel like summer at all. Well I take that back, it sure FEELS like summer. Its getting more and more humid and I am dreading the rain and heat that is on its way. But before I know it I will be headed back to the motherland, so there isn't much time to complain or rejoice. I have events planned for virtually every weekend until I leave which makes things seem like they will go by at the speed of light--especially at the very end. Once again I find it hard yet easy to believe its been a whole year. And when I get back it will be hard to believe that I was even gone. It will seem like I never even left. Strange how it all happens.

I am even starting to plan in my head all of the things I need to and want to do when I am home, which makes it seem like a little more of a reality, yet I know the realness of it wont truly hit until my plane touches down on good old Colorado soil. Six weeks and counting. As much as I have truly loved my stay here, a year was a perfect fit for me in every way and I am almost ready to continue on my life path. I am ready for a change, but I know I will leave a little bit of myself here. In the culture, in my friends, as they will with me. Respectfully so. I will embrace this new part to me quietly but with open arms and then figure out the next chapter. How exciting yet terrifying that is going to be! So now its time to start counting...

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Ready or not here I come!

Nagasaki