And on your right...

Two Fridays ago, the University of Kurume's Intensive English Program coordinated a tour of Kurume for all of the new ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers, like myself.) We were met at the closest train station, picked up by a bus and shuttled to campus, where we met our "guides," Japanese students currently studying English. They were all adorable, and very modest about their English ablities, when half of them probably knew more about grammar than I do. The other half were getting there, and I think just shy by nature. After introductions and a brief power point about all that Kurume has to offer (many slides of shopping centers, ramen shops, some parks) the floor was opened up for questions. From what I could gather, the typical Kurume University student spent a lot of time eating ramen and going to karaoke, while attending the occassional festival. One of the girls confessed a love for all things Harry Potter, and told us that she was going to try very hard to read the last book in English, because she would have to wait another year (?) for the Japanese version to be published.

After a rather non-descript cafeteria lunch, we got on the bus and headed out to see the sights of the city. The first stop was the Kora Shrine, located on a neighboring hill overlooking the city. As the bus navigated the small turns up the hill, every so often there was a break in the trees and you could see the steps leading up to the shrine from the bottom of the hill. One day, when it is much cooler, Allison and I want to go back and climb them. For now though, we were more than thankful for the bus's air conditioning.

At the top, we entered through the back of the shrine, and immediately could see the city laid out infront of us. Before even looking at the shrine itself, I went over to the special observation deck. This is what I saw:

Even better than the view from City Hall! It was much clearer, and we could see very far, into neighboring prefectures! (I just made that up, but perhaps if I had known where to look, it would have worked.) So after soaking up the view, I turned around to look at the shrine. I don't know too much about shrine architecture right now, but I am hoping to learn a bit more while I am here. I am pretty sure the large stone statues in front are there to guard the shrine...

Where the people are in the above photo, there is a large bell and an offering trough. I think we all threw in 10 yen and said a little prayer for good luck. ( I believe I wished for an early autumn.)

There were just a few other crazy people out in the hot sun at the shrine. My Japanese guide, Saori kept saying "Atsui, atsui" which means hot, and getting pebbles stuck in her fashionable white sandals. In contrast to the relatively private viewing we got, the Kora Shrine is a totally different place at New Years, when people from all over come to ask for good luck in the coming year. New Years is the only time when a public bus goes up the hill...all other times of year its private transportation or your own two feet.

Back on the bus to our next stop: the Ishibashi Culture Center. Mr. Ishibashi is one of Kurume's claims to fame. His name might ring a bell once it's translated: ishi means stone, and bashi means bridge...yup, Bridgestone Tires originated here in Kurume. Needless to say, Mr. Ishibashi made out quite well and collected lots of art, but he didn't want it to just sit in his house, so he built an art museum to show it all off. While it pales in comparison to the Getty, it was showing an interesting exhibition while we were there. All the art was done by Japanese artists, but depicted foreign locations, presumably painted while the artists were studying abroad. One of my favorite pieces was Three Grazing Horses by Sakamoto Hanjiro.

Another highlight from this stop, which I unfortunately don't have a photo of, was the homemade robot that stood in a separate culture center office, which was responsible for coordinating concerts and other events. It stood maybe 7 ft tall and looked to be made out of plastic tubing and stryofoam with a coat of silver spray paint. But low and behold, when the very obliging office lady plugged it in and waved her hand in front of it, its eyes lit up and it waved its arms! One of our genki tour guides even got up and did the "Robot" alongside it.

Breeze through the next two stops, the Kurume International Center, which can be described as an office in trasition at best. Among the stacks of boxes and extra furniture was an extensive lending library though, with many titles in English to choose from. Like so many other things, once it gets cooler, I think I will be frequenting it more often. Then we went back up to the observation room in City Hall, a repeat for those of us who had already been up there, as well as the Municipal ALTs who actually work out of City Hall.

Last but certainly not least on the tour was an "optional" dinner...why the coordinators thought anyone in their right mind would turn down a dinner that they were paying for is beyond me, especially when they took us to a place that served multiple courses. It was a set menu, and provided us foreigners many opportunities to try new things. The first plate was sashimi, raw fish and other goodies covered in a fish broth gelatin. Mmmmmm. It actually was quite edible, although I didn't slurp up the gelatin too readily. Then came the salad, fairly straight forward; the kabocha soup, which was probably the highlight; some delicious crusty bread, very different from the thick, Wonder Bread found everywhere else in Japan; and then the fried pork rolls with a barbecue-y flavored sauce. The pork was delicious, but quite filling. I ate 5 of my 6; other people who were not fans of pork ate less. The extras all ended up in front of Daisuke, the genki student who danced with the robot, who promised us he would eat them all. Where they all ended up is anyone's guess. He ate his own, most of another full plate and two heaping plates of rice before slowing down.

Then came dessert, which he polished off as well. I managed to find some room for the simply, yet oh so beautifully presented coconut and watermelon gelatins, with a small scoop of caramel ice cream in the middle. A nice end to a hot day. After the meal, we arranged ourselves on the steps of the restaurant for a big group picture. We caused quite a stir...another patron who was dining there, got out her camera and took a picture of us as well.