Dartboard

My second official visitor arrives! Peter made it to Kamigoto Island this weekend! Friday night I took him out to dinner at Kawayasu Ramen (where else?) before heading to karate where he met my wonderful teacher, Matsuzono-sensei and co-worker, Koichiro. That was interesting… I was so (unnecessarily) nervous about him meeting them. I practiced my kata for a while and then joined Koichiro on the punching bags. I was really embarrassed to introduce Peter and Koichiro (again, unnecessarily), but at some point I went out to Koichiro’s car to get some water and when I came back Koichiro and Peter were playing together nicely. I don’t know how that introduction went, but I’m glad I wasn’t there for it. No one asked if Peter was my boyfriend, though I was prepared with my answer, “Chigau yo!” (Thanks, Peter! =)

It was nice to have Peter there because he could finally translate a few things for me! They usually just talk on and on to me without much regard to whether or not I’m understanding. I assume a lot (for example, I assume that Matsuzono-sensei ADORES me!) but this weekend I was able to confirm it! Also, my name was printed in the karate school newspaper. Well, my katakana name (シエラケニー) was printed for passing the last test, go-kyu.

After class, when all the good stuff happens, I got to “fight” with Matsuzono-sensei. Sometimes he gets playful enough that he just attacks me. Usually it’s not until I provoke him enough, and so I guess I managed again. Tonight’s theme was “How high can she kick?” and so I had to do lots of kicking above my head before they would let me play around again. Bother.

True Story:
When it was time to go and I was redressing, I put on my baseball hat and said, “I want to be a boy.” To which Koichiro replied, “You already are,” (Said in Japanese, of course, but I ASSUMED that’s what he said and Peter only confirmed I was correct. I’m getting too good at this assumption thing…) When I gave Koichiro the appropriate scowl he said to me, “No, You are a pretty girl. Very, very, very, very pretty girl,” I may be wrong on the number of times he said “very” but it seemed like a lot at the time. I ignored his comment on the outside, but inside I was absolutely shocked. I thought he was already being pretty flirtatious with me considering Peter was there and then this hard-core comment! Sometimes Koichiro can be so subtle, and then other times...well, now I have a witness to prove it. This is not all in my head. Peter explained that sometimes, even Japanese men, are flirtatious and that may just be what I’m up against. It’s the best explanation for this wicked behavior.

Excited to play hostess for the weekend, Saturday morning I woke up before Peter and made him Sierra’s favorite meal of the day: Breakfast! We had pancakes, eggs, sausages, fruit and yogurt! I forgot to take a picture, but here is Peter sitting under my kotatsu after the meal.

It started snowing pretty hard Saturday morning, but we decided to brave the elements to take a walking tour of Narao. At some moments it was snowing pretty hard, but somehow didn’t feel too cold for the majority of the walk. The sun even broke out a couple of times and we thought it might even clear up. It didn't, but we were okay with the snow.

The snow from my apartment balcony.

Me at the graveyard near my apartment.

Nagasaki’s oldest banyan tree (“akou” in Japanese) lives in Narao. 655 years old! There will be some more pictures from this in the coming weeks…

The bell at Narao’s shine.

Me and Peter in the reflection of a mirror. See, it was sort of sunny!

After showing him the highlights: Narao’s post office! Yeah! Narao’s town office! Super! And our onsen, rock garden, bridge, grocery store, tunnel, concrete factory, and the new sidewalk, we went back to my apartment for some lunch. Before it got too cloudy and dark we decided to drive the old highway north towards Arikawa. I was trying to get to the top of Sannouzan Mountain (山王山) near Nakanoura Bay, which I think is the tallest mountain on the island at 449 meters. The road which appeared to lead the way was closed for construction, but I’ll have to go back again in the spring. I’m determined to find my way to the top of that mountain! Because we were higher in elevation the snow was sticking and the views were absolutely magnificent. I couldn’t help but rub it in. My island is better than your island. Everyone’s island. Even if you don’t live on an island, mine is better than yours.

We took all the side roads we could find and eventually wound up at the end of this road with a few houses and an ocean stadium. It was like a huge concrete stadium and the ocean was the stage. No doubt the site of at least one small festival each year—I’d love to know when it is. We started to explore the shore and went as far around as we could, jumping slippery rocks and teetering over the ocean. Here’s the view from the furthest out we could get.

Peter on the shore.

Continuing on the old road to Arikawa we found some of the most beautiful views on the east side of the island. I can’t believe I hadn’t been on this drive yet! Several times, we just had to stop the car, walk to the edge of the road and pour over the views of the ocean, valleys, and mountains. These following pictures don’t nearly do it justice. Peter took some more pictures with his film camera and as soon as he gets them developed I’m sure he’ll pass them on to me. (Please, Peter!)

A blue-green bay buried deep inside the valley.

The Great Road of Kamigoto.

Ominous clouds.

Me, ruining the beautiful view.

And Kuro kuma-kun looked so cute there I had to take his picture.

I'm no tomboy!!

Peter and me.

The road eventually led us back to Arikawa, and we were very near the lookout point that Yuka and I hiked last weekend, so we decided to check it out. This mountain is called Yuguredake and I believe it’s the tallest in Arikawa. On the drive up Peter spotted a wild boar scurry into the woods. I’m so glad because a trip to Goto isn’t complete until you’ve seen a wild boar. The snow had really settled here on this peak and it was so gorgeous. I told a couple co-workers this weekend that I hate snow and I hoped it didn't snow this weekend, but I take it all back! Really, I just don’t like driving in it! This light dusting was no problem for Kuro kuma-kun, however.

Here are the views from Yuguredake. They are approximately north-east and east.

The round thing at the top of this picture is the little observation deck.

Which do you like better? This one…

…or this one? (Vote for me!)

Snowy steps.

Peter on the snowy steps.

Tsubaki leaves.

This is a tsubaki (camellia). I’ve mentioned it a few times before. The official flower of Goto Islands because they are so plentiful here. And beautiful when covered in snow.

Tsubaki without snow.

And if you aren’t jealous yet. We’ve got oranges growing on wild trees all over the place! Here’s one along side the road.

I’m going to post the stories from the second half of Peter’s trip tomorrow because I’m exhausted! Here are all the pictures anyway!
Love to you all,
Sierra