Dartboard

Just got back from a weekend in Fukuoka and boy am I citied out! Fukuoka is the largest city on Kyushu and just a 6 hour ferry ride from my island. We went in honor of Laura’s birthday, which was today, September 20th, and conveniently also a holiday. Respect for the Aged Day.

On Friday night, after karate, Catherine and I told Laura that we’d be coming up to Kamigoto in the morning, but then made a last minute decision at 11:30 p.m. to go up that night. I had very little gas in my tank—at least less than an 1/8 of a tank, all gas stations were closed, and a 30 minute drive ahead of us. I was so worried we’d be walking a part of the way, ‘cause I was sure Midori-chan wouldn’t make it—but she prevailed. We had plenty of gas and no trouble. Knocking on Laura’s door after midnight surprised her and we made the first leg of the trip!!

We had been planning this trip for weeks, but when Saturday came, we had a really hard time actually leaving. We didn’t have tickets for the ferry, and we didn’t have any hotels reserved (and all the ones we called were booked). We all got kind of grumpy about the situation and frustrated that no one could make a decision. Kerry made a decision: she was going to go even if that meant going alone and then I said, “Let’s all just go!” And we did. And we kept our humor about it: “Let’s go have a bad time somewhere else.” So we met at Laura’s at 11 a.m., planning to get some groceries and head for the port before the ferry leaves at 12:30.

Noon. Thirty minutes until take off. We’re at Kamity (the grocery store) with bags of ready-to-eat meals, bottled drinks and …and no idea where the port is. I can’t believe we didn’t think of this earlier. It is pouring down rain, Laura and Kerry the only ones smart enough to bring jackets, Catherine racing back and forth from the car to the payphone, calling Peter, then Yuka for directions. Okay, we’ve got directions, we head to the port—still in the pouring rain, find it without problem and buy our tickets. We’re definitely going.

I take pictures like a mad-woman and yet have none to show for it because my camera has decided to randomly delete pictures from this entire first half of the trip. Technology can be so infuriating!

The ferry ride went quickly. Kerry and I manage to eat the entire six hours. Catherine doesn’t eat thinking she doesn’t know when her next meal is. (We may not know where we’re sleeping, but it’s not like they don’t have food in Fukuoka!!!) Peter was also on the ferry, headed to Hirado for a swim competition. He and Catherine spend almost the entire time outside on the upper deck while we make bets if this is the day they’ll finally kiss. (To all our surprise, we lost our bet—no action this time, folks!)

Kamigoto from the ferry.

Catherine jumping. If that's not a cool picture I don't know what is. It took me forever to figure out what it was. I thought she was jumping into water and I was wondering, "How did I miss that?"

Leaving Kamigoto behind!!! For a weekend at least!

Inside the ferry, where I ate and slept the entire time.

Then Dawn gets on the ferry. She’s the JET from Ojika, a very small island just north of ours, also in the Gotos chain. We haven’t seen Dawn since orientation in Omura five weeks ago! Dawn’s going to visit Emma, a second year JET on Uku, another small island just north of ours. We relish in seeing another JET, take pictures, exchange phone numbers and make plans for her visit to Kamigoto. The ferry (called the Taiko, I think) docks in Uku and we wave wildly to Emma where we get to yell to her from aboard.

Getting later and closer to Fukuoka. This sunset was amazing!

Kerry and Catherine braving the wind!

We arrived in Fukuoka around 6:30 and get a taxi to our capsule hotel, Greenland near Tenjin Station. Our taxi drives us around for a while, calling people on his cell (presumably getting directions), eventually stops the meter and drops us off outside a building with a British flag on it. It’s not a hotel, but a restaurant and they don’t even speak English there. So we wander around for hours, Catherine has brought her enormous backpack (full of air, she claims, but maybe she’s right because weight never seemed to be a problem for her). We ask, god knows how many people, for directions to Tenjin Station, directions to the Greenland Hotel and Tully’s Coffee (where there is another JET with her cell phone), directions to ANY hotel that might have a room available. Catherine is our savior, befriending a large Japanese woman decked out in an army uniform—but who cares what she’s wearing—she called the Greenland Hotel, made us reservations, and even walked us to their front door! We were so grateful for her kindness.

That's Catherine on the left talking to army woman. I'm standing around trying to look hopeless. Laura's on the phone with Leah. Thanks Kerry for taking this picture!

The capsule is great. We check in, just $40 a night, and take the elevator up to our capsules. It’s a bit scary at first—they looked like dryers with glass doors, stacked two high …and we’re just suppose to climb in there and sleep? Hope you’re not claustrophobic! But once I’m inside my capsule, it’s quite nice. There is no door, but a screen that you pull down—it’s much nicer than being shut in without any air. There is a television with an English channel, radio and air circulating. Kerry and Catherine start screaming about the free Japanese porn that seems to have taken over their TVs. No one knows how to change the channel and we all laugh, causing quite a ruckus. Forgetting that noise travels through the thin screen doors, we wake some old woman up, she rightfully gave us a dirty scowl and we creep out apologetically.

Here they are! The little capsules...aren't they great?

Our first night in Fukuoka and we’re not eating Japanese! We found an Italian place and ordered some delicious pasta and wine. We were all so happy to be off the island. We’re not having a bad time at all. Okay, it was an adventure finding a hotel, but we did it and we’ll be fine. The other thing we all agree to do this weekend is go dancing. We find a club about 50 feet from our hotel (I’m embarrassed to tell you it’s name: The Happy Cock) but they have a great deal: $20 for all you can drink until they close. I got the “two drinks for $10” deal because I wasn’t that thirsty and then we gaijin take over the dance floor! We all danced—no one holding up the wall in this group!—and we have a great time.

Are we not adorable? Me, Catherine and Kerry.

Waiting outside Greenland Hotel, all dressed uo to go out.

Somehow this seemed like a good idea at the time: Taking a picture from above.

Me and Catherine wanna dance!

Unfortunately, Laura wasn’t feeling well so she called it a night, while the three of us went in search of another Happy Cock where there apparently were some other JETs staying in Fukuoka for the long weekend. That’s where we met up with Leah (who had the cell phone in Tully’s Coffee), and several others whose names I don’t remember, but they were just leaving to go to our Happy Cock. By now our Happy Cock was brimming with people and no longer my scene, so I called it a night and walked back to our capsule.

Not the most attractive picture, I know. But these are the stock PJs they give you at the hotel. Super comfty, I had to restrain myself from taking them home!

Kerry modeling now.

And Cathering too!

This is going to have to be all for this entry because it is already so long! But I’ll be back with stories from Sunday and Monday soon!

Going to have a bad time somewhere else,
Sierra

Good things just keep happening to me. Today Daniel presented me with my birthday gift (still 14 days to shop for those of you who have forgotten =) and it’s the best birthday gift I’ve ever received in my entire life! Because it’s him! … Yes!! It’s Daniel and he’s coming here for my birthday. Well, he’s coming here for more than just that, but he’ll be here in time for my birthday. In less than a fortnight—less than 2 weeks—less than14 days—I get to see Daniel here in Japan! Isn’t it crazy that even though we decided to break up when I left, we’ve been in such good contact and stayed so close that we’re already planning our first visit. Isn’t it ironic that when you don’t force things, they seem to work out for themselves?

Oh, the ways we've kept in touch!

We're glad this one's small! But let me point out that I'm frowning too!

He’s going to be here for four weeks at least, five if I can squeeze them out of him! He’s a little worried about what he’ll do all day while I’m at work, but he knows he’ll do the same thing he does all day when he’s at his home. Code. I’ve got fast internet so that’s not a problem, and in the evenings we can go to all my weekly activities like karate, tennis, flower arranging and taiko drumming practice. We can go out to restaurants or have some co-workers over, drive up north, go swimming and running (and push-ups and sit-ups to get ready for basic training). As you can see, I’ve been planning for weeks what I might do with someone who came for a visit!

I’m also beginning to come to the conclusion that I should go home for Christmas. Well, I shouldn’t go home because here I am in Japan with so many places I’ve never been to and would love to go to just next door. But there are so many enticing reasons to go back and see my family and friends—people I haven’t seen for ages (like Sahra who will be visiting from Germany; Steven, who just got back from the middle east; Ken, who’ll be fresh off a cruise ship; and then my mama, sister, aunts, uncle and cousins and neighbors. And Daniel will be home for two weeks too; his friend Seth who I’d love to meet might be around…) I’m still deciding, but it’s certainly an option at this point.

Last night I spent the entire evening reading the second Harry Potter book. I realized that I needed to return it to the library today and had only read a few chapters. So I settled down and read the whole thing, and dang bust it, forgot to return it this afternoon! It’s not like there are many people in this town waiting for it, but I should try to respect the rules, eh? I’m going to start pouring into my own bookshelf soon. (Now I’ve read all four English books in the Narao library: the Barefoot Gen comic book series and the first two Harry Potter books.) I have some good reads, actually. Frommer’s Japan, Travelers Tales Guide Japan, Navigating Nagasaki, Culture Shock Japan, Nagasaki Hospital Guide, Globetrotter Japan, Southeast Asia On A Shoestring, The JET Programme Resource Handbook, and The Truth About Japan. In all seriousness, there are some interesting things: The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller, Nineteen-eighty four, which I’ve read, but just love, The Enigma of Japanese Power, and A God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I mostly should crack Japanese for JETs, but it’s so unmotivating!

And I mentioned quickly. I started practicing taiko drumming! I’m going to drum in some school festival—no idea when it is, but hoping it’s during DT’s visit—and practices started tonight. I’m just horrible at it, but everyone else has been doing this since they were toddlers so I try not to feel too bad. Kyoto-sensei was there and he loved helping me get the “da da dah, da da, da dah!” just right. I swear if that man were unmarried and about 40 years younger I’d snatch him up!! Oh, his daughter recently gave me a little present. She’s 23 years-old and went on a trip to Kyoto recently, bringing me back a small Hello Kitty phone ornament. If you’re not familiar with the Japanese love for cutsie things, let me be the first to introduce you. I’d never give an adult a cartoon-anything at home, but here it’s totally acceptable! It was a very sweet gesture and I have it hanging from my digital camera because—sorry, no ketai (mobile)!

I’m suppose to be getting my karate uniform here pretty soon. It might be tomorrow night or maybe next Tuesday. I'm excited to conform and feel more like I fit into the group. That’s all I had to say about that…

Funny, I don’t talk much about work. I mean, the actual teaching. It just seems to take up so little of my time. I lesson plan a lot, but only because I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not that impressed with the teaching to be honest. Occasionally I’ll get an enthusiastic class, feeling brave and willing to talk, the activities just seem to mesh well together and the time flies by. But sometimes it’s painfully slow and I can watch the kids for minutes (literally) as they try to answer, or even understand, my question. I have to say, I taught the worst class of my career (I can say that because it’s been a 3-week career) yesterday. The lowest class at Nakagoto HS could not even get through my self-introduction lesson, which all the junior high classes flew though on Tuesday. I was really frustrated by the end of the class because I couldn’t do anything in the silence. If I ask a student a question I can either wait it out until s/he answers, prod the student on by giving clues, or just forget about it and move out. While I do enjoy releasing the poor kid from his/her misery, I also don’t feel that’s really teaching them anything except if you wait long enough you can get out of it. I have no ideas for what to do with that class. Starting at the alphabet would be ideal, but then it bores the students who are a little more advanced. I understand why Tomonaga-sensei gets frustrated now!

Just have to add a few pictures from the radio broadcast show from Wednesday. I had my first guest on the show, Tsuchiyama-sensei ,（in Japanese that's 土山先生 ...what do you think of them apples?）and I’d say it was a general success. Tomorrow is my animal sounds lesson over the radio!!

Here are the students that are in charge of the station this semester.

Here's me reading v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y so the students can understand me.

That's all for now, folks, keep checking in on me!
Love and DT with a bow on top!
Sierra

I said if you send me pictures, I'd post them online, and I don't lie (usually)!

Here's a picture of Daniel's childhood friend, Seth (far right). He's with some friends camping out on an ancient mountaintop castle in the wind-blown Syrian desert city of Palmyra. Seth is thinking about coming to Japan, perhaps to teach English, perhaps to work at a news organization. Good luck to you!

And my lovely mother who sent this picture from Bainshee...or someplace in the Midwest.

Today was my first full day at Wakamatsu Junior High School. How should I sum it up…? It was very different from the high school; it was non-stop exhausting, extremely hot and humid, disgustingly stinky and very repetitive. I’m really sick of my self introduction now. I’ve answered the same 20 questions for some 200 students in 9 different classes over the last two weeks—and I still have at least three more to go. I taught all four classes right in a row and I’m afraid to say I was not my spry self by the end of it all. Then I also had to eat lunch with the kids, which normally might have been quite fun, except I wanted to curl into a ball and whimper through the rest of the afternoon. (Yes, it’s still me…my dramatic self and all!)

The front entrance of Wakamatsu Junior High School

I think this says "Wakatamatsu Junior High," but I don't know for sure.

Luckily, the two afternoon classes which I’m suppose to teach were canceled because the students needed to practice for the school sports festival which is this weekend. I was asked to join them outside, but I opted to stay inside the air-conditioned staff room and regroup for a while. I studied Japanese for a good long while and then when I started to feel like I could handle shaking another 50 grubby junior high hands I decided to join them outside. And it was hot. I was dressed smart because I had to give my speech in the morning, but even in the shade I was sticking to myself.

The kids practiced the all-school dance (about a 8-10 minute affair) a total of four times and only lost one to the heat. A girl fainted and fell to the ground during the second or third time they were going through the dance, but her peers just kept right on going. I must have been the first to see her because no one seemed surprised…or even like they were going to do something about her for what seemed like several seconds. It was probably just my panic imagining that it was taking so long for someone to notice because once the teachers moved, they were running. They rushed over and dragged her back to the shade and gave her tea, all whilst the school finished their dance! I thought maybe this was a common occurrence since not one of her peers even blinked when she fell, but she was the only one we lost today.

Here they are dancing away. I'm surprised at the student body's enthusiasm for this all-school activity. Good luck getting any American public school to be this happy while dancing together.

One of the two school teams (A and B) running.

The school has a pretty amazing view of the ocean though!!

Had to be patriotic for this last one!

I just got back from karate practice. I missed both classes last week because of the typhoon and my enkai on Friday night. I hadn’t forgotten much though and learned a whole lot more tonight. My uniform is suppose to arrive by Friday and I’ll be looking real official. I can’t wait to make the great whipping noises with each punch and kick that only a proper karate uniform can duplicate. You just sound like you’re moving so much faster when your whole uniform talks. My T-shirt just doesn’t do it for me!

I also had my first tennis practice with the dentist last night. He teaches a community class on Monday nights and Catherine and I have added it to our already busy list. (Catherine doesn’t do karate, but she now does kendo two nights a week!) I just told them I’ve never played before so they treated me like a true beginner. Japanese people usually understate all their abilities so if I say I’ve played tennis a few times, it doesn’t mean I’ve literally played only three times, it means I’m just an amateur. So I’d prefer not to give the wrong impression and let them believe I can hit the ball over the net and inside the court more than 25 percent of the time. Everyone there seems really cool; some are really good, some are poor, but everyone has fun playing together. There is this cute boy who graduated from Nakagoto High School two years ago (I’m guessing about 20 years old) who enjoyed chatting it up in English with me. I’d love to exchange some Japanese/English lessons with him because he’s about at the right level that English wouldn’t dominate, but I don’t think two young unmarried people can hang out without the rumors flying. We’ll see what develops.

Alright, it’s almost midnight. I have to go to bed now!
Fifty grubby junior high hands,
Sierra

Again, I'm too tired to type any fun stories right now, even posting pictures seems barely do-able. (I never should drink two nights in a row. It's miserable on my body.) Kerry invited us to share her Mexican food, a package from home, and so here are some pictures from Saturday evening and the drive back home Sunday.

Slicing the onions for tacos. Catherine's sexally sucking a spoon, which she claims helps with the tears. Kerry, maybe you should try?

Here it is: Mexican tacos! That's Peter, Yuka and Kerry.

I went to the beach today...to use the toliet; it's a long story I'll tell you about someday! But I thought this view was amazing!

These clouds at the beach were spectacular, moving so swiftly, I thought maybe a typhoon was on it's way.

I drove home the back way today and stopped to take these pictures near my house. This is a church, I think it's called Kiri, a couple miles from my house.

This seems random, but I want to show Daniel my fried tofu. He gave me the courage to try something new with tofu and it turned out pretty good!

Love and Mexican,
Sierra

I can't write now because I'm so tired, but I wanted to post some pictures of my welcome party (enkai). There were lots of speeches, good food and alcohol, and teasing at my party. I had such a good time! So here are the pictures, and the stories to come later!

Here's the table I sat at and all the good food we had. They made sure there was plenty of food I could eat (crab instead of sashimi) and drinks (chu-hi, cocktails in a can, instead of beer). I felt so special!

Here's the room where we had the enkai. It's a hotel in Wakamatsu, but they do special parties too. It was really beautiful, I'd contemplete staying there just for fun one night.

This is kocho-sensei (principal) and the speech he wrote for me. He gave me the speech as a gift.

This is kyoto-sensei (vice-principal) on my left and Yamaguchi-sensei on my right. Yamaguchi is a part time math teacher.

Here's my welcome sign. It says, "Sierra-sensei" or Sierra-teacher.

Hanging out with a bunch of men at my school. It was great to get to know some of the teachers that are too shy to talk to me at school (or maybe just too busy). The guy on the far left is a professional soccer referee and he used to teach the soccer team at Nakagoto before the program was cut. He's promised to play some soccer with me this year.

Later in the night when things got crazier, I arm wrestled kocho-sensei. I won, but I'm positive he let me!!