Early October Adventure--Days 2 and 3

Kagoshima Day 2.

All rested and ready to go. That blue sign in the back is the hotel where we stayed.

The little local train we boarded to Ibusuki. Hot sand baths here we come!!

Well we made it...

...and the place was a ghost town. Even the pachinko palor on the main street was closed. What?

But we did find a cute little restaurant for lunch. The food was delicious. I can't remember what I had exactly, but it was sort of like fajitas--a hot plate with some veggies and seafood on it. No tortillas though. I did get some red miso soup and a beautiful little plate of seasonal fruit for dessert.

How Japanese!

It turns out everyone was hiding out at the sand baths. I was expecting a cabana on the beach that handed out yukata and maybe a screen to change behind, but no, it was a big two story building with a lobby and gift shop, locker rooms and onsen. While we waited to pay, we checked out the rules/instructions, conveniently written in Japanese and English. The red part warns you not to stay too long in the hot sand. Rule #2 tells you under no circumstances should you wear your underwear under your yukata.

Here's where everyone is!! And with good reason.

After waiting in line, you are lead to a shallow pit, each on holds about 8 people, lined up head to toe. People are very relaxed, and the only way you can be sure they aren't dead is the sweat on their brows. You lay down in your own little trough, and the sand shoveler comes by and very professionally shovels sand on top of you, all the way up to your neck. When I say very professionally, I mean it. There was not a grain of sand past my neck...eyes and mouth blissfully sand free!

The recommended time limit is 10 mins. We stayed burried for about 15, then a few more while the obliging employee took our photos. The sensation is hard to describe. I felt like someone was sitting on me, but in a good way. The sand really is warm and it feels good. Despite the weight, when it was time to get up, it was really easy.

Sand bathing, and getting to and from on the slow local train took up almost all of Day 2. That night we headed out to Kajiki (on the other side of Kagoshima from Ibusuki) to meet up with Iris, who graciously opened up her modern apartment to us for the night. The next morning she took us sightseeing and made sure we got some Kagoshima ramen before we got back on the train.

Day 3
Pretty pink flowers at the waterfall near Iris's house.

Waterfall!

Lunch! It was raining, a perfect day for steaming hot ramen.

We walked around Kagoshima a bit. Saw this statue, went to the art museum which wasn't anything special sadly. There was a man there doing a demonstration of his painting, which made the whole place smell like turpentine and oil paint. His art was hard to appreciate too, very modern and very brown.

Much more exciting than the art museum was the discovery of the entire floor of sweet shops in a department store. Many flavors of mochi ice cream below. We all got cake, then somewhat nauseously made our way back to the station to catch the train home.

The Shinkansen for the first leg of the journey back home. After transfering onto the regular Tsubame line, the trip seemed interminable. But we made it back just fine, maybe a few pounds heavier for all of our eating.

Early October Adventure--Day 1

[This is for you Devin. If you hadn't told me my blog "used to be great, you know when you actually wrote things" I may never have completed these entries---pshaw.]

For the long weekend at the beginning of October (a whole month ago now!) the lovely ladies of the Kita-Chikugo Board of Education, packed up their bags and went south to Kagoshima. The trip had three main goals:

1) Get out of Kurume. We were scheduled to leave our apartments at 10:15 am. I somehow was ready a bit early and was literally dancing around I was so excited to be going somewhere new.

2) Get burried in hot sand in Ibusuki. And buy the sand bath Hello Kitty charm.

3) Eat lots of food, especially the kuro buta or black pork that Kagoshima is famous for. I am happy to report that the trip was a success.

Here's Jamie and Allison on the train. No trip would be complete without an abundance of snacks, or Jamie's requisite coffee!

When we arrived, we went past the larger train station to Kagoshima-eki, which is laughably small and deserted for a station bearing the city's name. But from the walkway over the tracks, we get our first view of Sakurajima, the active volcano that sits across the bay from the city. We don't have anything like that in Kurume.

After stuffing our luggage into a locker, we set out on foot towards the pier and the Kagoshima Aquarium. Ferries to Sakurajima leave from the pier, and I am kinda proud of this lovely reflection picture with all the cars lined up to board the ship.

Aquarium!!! I really like aquariums, and this one was no different. It was pretty crowded, and had some really neat tanks. The first one housed a baby whale shark! There was also one full of gigantic Amazon fish that just laid around on the bottom until there was a splash in the water, and then they took off really fast. It was kinda crazy. Jamie and Allison gave an impromptu English lesson to some ladies at the jellyfish tank, and we overheard people commenting about how oishii some of the other fish looked. Must be hard to be a seafood loving Japanese person in an aquarium.

Welcome to the Aquarium!

Ewwww! You can see right through the gills out the front of his mouth! How does that work?

One of many delicious looking animals on display.

Hmmm, Jamie on display? I think this was the tank that had lots of tiny shrimp and snails in it, sort of like what one would find in a rice paddy.

The dolphin show! Which included a rather graphic demonstration of how to take a dolphin's temperature by sticking a probe up its butt hole. There was a large screen on the wall behind the tank, which is just visible in the picture below...and sure enough, the foreigners got on TV before the show started, so we had to smile and wave at ourselves for a while.

And outside, the touch tank with the standard underwater touchables, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and some starfish. The little girl's expression is priceless as she watches us act several years younger than our ages.

Next, we got on the ferry and headed over to the volcano. The ride was only 10 minutes, and the sea breeze in our faces wasn't nearly entertaining enough, so we took jumping photos...or attemped to take them. I am pretty sure the family just inside the windows to the right of the photo shielded their young children's eyes during our photoshoot, not wanting to expose their cute Japanese children to gaijin idiocy.
Once on Sakurajima, a car was pretty necessary, so we were limited to a very small area right near the ferry terminal. Luckily, the Sakurajima Dinosaur Park was just a 6 minute walk up a steep hill. The aquarium was cool, but the dinosaurs were just a bit cooler, and definitely unexpected.

The steep hill.
Views from steep hill.

Dinosaurs!

The incredibly long slide that doesn't even fit in the picture. Of course we had to go down it.

The slide was a bunch of rollers...which created some very interesting sensations. Upon finally reaching the bottom, our bottoms were first very tingly, and then awfully warm. It took a while to walk it off.

One last view from Sakurajima as the sun sets. We hopped back on the ferry and went to look for some dinner.

After dinner, we ended up at the more central train station, which was conveniently next to a large mall. We went in and out of the mall a lot that weekend, mostly to use the bathroom or go up to the 6th floor where the purikura (amazing photobooths that let you draw on the photos and add things like mustaches and sparkles before they are printed out on sticky paper) machines were located. On the top of the mall was a ferris wheel, so of course we had to do that too.

After the ferris wheel and some dessert, we stumbled towards the closest business hotel where the very nice proprietor showed us a room with two twin beds and not much else (including floor space) in it. We shoved the beds together, filled in the little bit of floor with our stuff, took turns flooding the bathroom while we took showers and crashed sideways on the beds.

Japan in the "news"

I have begun to come to terms with the fact that my blog is not going to be a chronological masterpiece, so in the interest of offering my readers the most complete account of my time here, be prepared for more pieces like this in the future (short, random, and completely out of order)

Today I went to Torikai Elementary School. Its a nice school, but the best part in my opinion is that none of my days there have started before second period, allowing me an extra 45 minutes of sleep/lazing around in my warm bed. Since I arrive later, I have to stay and teach after lunch which gives me about an hour in the teacher's room after I eat with the kids (always a mixed bag...school lunch and the student's manners can be pretty gross.) Today I was reading the book I brought along with me, but I guess the vice principal thought I looked bored, because he came over and turned on the computer and opened up the internet for me. I decided to catch up on some news from home, and in addition to seeing that CA is up in flames, I came across this article in the New York Times, which has to be one of my favorite papers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/world/asia/20japan.html?em&ex=1193284800&en=c00a0ae69a912362&ei=5087%0A

Take a minute to read it...the article is short, and the accompanying slide show is priceless. I thought the article had a lot of interesting commentary about Japanese society. When I read the article at school, I was trying hard not to smirk less someone see me and want to know what I was reading, but now in the privacy of my own home I can grin all I want to. Thinking about it, dressing up like a vending machine is one of the most preposterous crime prevention tactics out there. Creative, fits nicely with Japanese societal ideas, and even comes from old samurai practices (of course!) but it would nearly impossible to make a quick get-away or defend yourself in a shroud of fabric. In the slide show, the "fire-hydrant" wearing jeans is almost more conspicuous than the child itself. And I am dying to see the man-hole purse in action...what do you do? Just throw it down when you feel threatened and hope that your attacker doesn't notice the new, extra lumpy manhole on the street?

I know these are conceptual ideas, but you have to love Japan for supporting them. Now, the vending machine skirt as a Halloween costume...ingenious. Too bad I don't think I could have one ready in time for the party on Friday.

COUNTRY GOLD!

Exactly a week ago, I was in the sitting in the back of a van with Dave and several other people in various stages of intoxication on the way back from an all-day country music festival outside of Kumamoto (yes, the place with the castle from earlier posts). Uchida-san, the man who sells yakitori (grilled meat on a stick) in front of our local grocery store invited Dave to go with him and his friends, and then Dave invited me to go along, and I am so glad that I did. The following pictures are proof that using "country music" and "Japan" in the same sentence isn't a slip of the tongue.

1) Pit stop (one of several...lots of Japanese sized bladders on board?) on the way down. The decked out guys in the parking lot told us two things: we were headed in the right direction and in our street clothes (plus hat for me) Dave and I were under dressed.



2) The venue. Mountains to the front and behind where we sat. A truly amazing place for a concert. We had gorgeous sunny (if not a bit cool) weather.



3) The view in the opposite direction. Nice horse, huh?

4) The Japanese can't do anything half way. That includes attending a country concert, so it is imperative that you don every piece of western wear imaginable (boots, tight jeans, jackets with fringe, bola ties, hats, red leather chaps....) and for the people next to us, it was also necessary to return to the roots of country music and re-inact a day on the Oregon Trail. They ate their chili for lunch out of a nice dutch oven on a tripod.

*I would also just like to add a note about the practially non-existant security to get in to the concert. We carried all sorts of potential weapons up from the car for grilling with, and there was not so much as a bag search. We brought in all of our own alcohol too. As we passed through the entrance, they actually gave out free samples of tea and donuts as well. So civilized!
5). Uchida-san and me enjoying the afternoon. First, note his outfit. He had Levi's and boots on too. Secondly, he was a great organizer/host, everyone had a really good time. We ate copious amounts of grilled meat, which he graciously offered to anyone else who happened to come by and speak English (i.e. some band members, the Lt. Governor of Montana)

6) The uber intimidating dance floor infront of the stage. I should have known better than to think that my Electric Slide skills which have serverd me quite well in the past would cut in Japan. There were at least two organized line dancing teams in matching outfits, and dozens of other people who all looked like they knew exactly what was going on. After a few slow starts, this very nice lady in the pink grabbed my hand, and counted in English for me while she showed me the steps. Look how much fun we're having...well she is relaxed and laughing at me, with good reason while I am concentrating very hard, but having a blast regardless.

7) When I saw the line-up for the day, I had only heard of one of the performers, Mark Chesnutt. And when I thought about it, I couldn't actually think of a song that he sang. He did a few that I recognized, but have now forgotten, because the groups before him really stole the show. The first group was Charlie Nagatani and the Cannonballs (more on Mr. Nagatani in a second). They were followed by Cherryholmes, a family bluegrass band, The Lost Trailers, and Bomshel, pictured below. Find their music if you can, they were all really good and awoke an old desire of mine to learn how to play the fiddle.

8) Dave and I with the man who made the whole thing possible, Mr Charlie Nagatani. I can't claim to know the whole story, but the gist of it is that Charlie first heard country music as a POW during Vietnam (?), loved it and upon his release decided to made it his life's work to promote world peace through country music. Not too shabby. He made my (and I am betting everyone else's) day. Next year is the 20th anniversary of Country Gold.

9) And to close, the best picture of the day. Hardly needs a caption, as it is worth way more than a thousand words.

Happy birthday to me!

Or if you want to say in Japanese, tanjobi omedeto! I guess my birthday was really just two weeks ago, but I've been busy, so it seems a bit longer ago than that. Many thanks to everyone who sent love my way. I was a bit worried about spending it away from the lovely people I had gotten used to celebrating it with the past 4 years, but I needn't have worried, the people here took very good care of me. Plus, I have this great coupon from Hannah that I will definitely redeem for some birthday madness whenever we find ourselves reunited.

I started my own personal birthday celebration the Saturday before the actual day with Allison, Jamie, and Kendra. We went to Dazaifu Shrine, then continued northward to Fukuoka for a day of shopping and eating (and thus begins the week-long binge...I still have not fully recovered, and it makes me a bit nauseous to think about it.) We ate lunch at a traditional noodle place, followed up by dessert at the place with 25 flavors of soft cream. They had the basics, and some unusual ones like pumpkin, sweet potato, and black sesame. I was boring, and opted for green tea and vanilla.

Dazaifu was pretty...it was getting ready for the autumn festival, so we watched the construction of a float that was to be used later in the day. The real treat however, the autumn leaves are still a ways off, so a return trip is necessary. So is another trip in the spring to see the plum blossoms (which some claim to be even prettier than the sakura, or cherry blossoms).

The shrine itself. Very colorful. Very popular. I like going to shrines, because I am never the only one with a camera out.

Japanese bridge leading to the shrine. I am trying to remember what I learned about Japanese Gardens in my History of Gardens class...hopefully seeing the places in real life will help bring it back to me.
Getting ready to construct a "tree" on that wagon. Very serious business, done only by the best ikebana ladies, who to my amazement continued to hold their purses while arranging the flowers.
The finishing touches on the final product. While we were watching, someone made the comment that it seemed kind of counter intuitive to cut down a bunch of plants only to use them to reconstruct a giant plant. Hmmmmm, it does give you something to think about.

Anyway, back to girl's day. We shopped 'til we dropped, snacking along the way and then had a nice spaghetti dinner at Pietro's, which is a chain of Italian restaurants in Japan.

On Sunday, I took it easy during the day, cleaned the apartment (there is always hair on the floor, even right after I vacuum, but at least I know its mine) and then met one of my teachers for an afternoon at the spa. My teacher has just recently discovered the aesthetic spa, she went once before school started and loved it so much that she bought a booklet for another 10 visits. I think she goes almost every weekend now, and I can see why one might be so inclined. The spa was quite nice, it was probably the most luxurious birthday present I ever have, and probably ever will receive.

After filling out some paperwork, I was led upstairs to change out of my street clothes into a papery bikini. Then in all my nearly naked glory, the aesthetician came and weighed and measured me. Lovely...and if that wasn't bad enough, she took photos. I got to keep them, and no, you will probably never see them. But after that slightly stressful beginning, I was led into the personal sauna, which was a lounge chair with what looked like a large umbrella draped with scarves hanging over it. I was told to lay down and scented steam was pumped in. The lights were dim, and it was relaxing, but it was also really hot. Having been in humid Japan in August and September, I thought I knew what it meant to sweat, but no, in the sauna I was gushing with perspiration from pores I didn't even know I had.

After the sauna, the lovely aesthetician (who spoke just enough English to get me to and from the various rooms, on and off the massage table and to ask me which sports I liked--proof that the English I've been teaching in junior does come in handy later in life) had the honor of rubbing me down, then attaching some pulsing magnet electrodes to me, then massaging me with warm compresses. I liked the compress massage the best I think. Then it was back to the changing room for more measurements and photos. That I lost 3 cm from my waist in the 2.5 hours I was there sweating did not surprise me very much, but they somehow miraculously raised my rear end 4 cm! "Oh, sugoy!" said the aesthetician. Weird. I wonder two things 1) how did they do that? and 2) how long did it stay lifted? I highly doubt that it is still up there. Then, after my shower with ridiculously expensive shampoos, (about $70 a bottle) as we were about to leave all refreshed and rejuvenated, all of the aestheticians came out from the back and presented me with a lovely bouquet of birthday flowers. So very nice of them.

The birthday bouquet from the spa ladies.

Then on my actual birthday, Monday the 24th, I had dinner with the hip, young teachers from my junior high school at Brava, a scrumdillidumptous (apologies to Roald Dahl) Italian place in downtown Kurume. Everything there is super fresh, and you can watch them make your wood fired pizza or mountainous banana torte in their open kitchen. Brava is also very small, with about a half a dozen tables and a four person bar, so it definitely pays to call ahead. Dinner was wonderful, and then on the way home, Allison treated me to some cake from a bakery which we ate in the park. I took the following picture in near darkness, hence the off centeredness of it, but I need to include it anyway.

Mmmmmm. Cake.

Thus were the beginnings of what turned out to be a week long eating marathon. On Tuesday, we had a meeting in Fukuoka, so I went out for Thai food afterwards. On Wednesday, we had our shodo lesson, complete with dinner and two birthday cakes (one for me and one for Allison, 9/26/1984) Thursday I was actually home for dinner, but all of my vegetables had spoiled in my absence, so I ate a bagel instead. Friday was another meeting and "English Conversation Cafe" which necessitated eating out again. On Saturday, there was a final birthday hoorah at the local tabehodai place, Stamina-taro, where $15 gets you 90 minutes of soup, grill your own meat, "fried goodness," sushi, noodles, rice, dessert and ice cream. I felt like the very hungry caterpillar on Sunday when he about 300 times his normal size all week.

There is just way too much good food around here :-P