Dartboard

It feels good to be back home. I love leaving the island because coming back to it always feels so good. My trip to Sasebo (Camp Sechibaru) was fun. The orientation was very informal and I got away from the school for two whole days! That was four nights off the island—and plenty of shopping and restaurant eating in Sasebo and Nagasaki. I wore jeans for four days straight.

I got the following email today from the organizers of the Golden Week Hitchhiking trip. It looks like Peter and I won the Hitchhitching Challenge!! (It was a race, did I mention?) Doing all three challenges really paid off, I guess!

The email reads:

team,
the rules were bent, broken and scattered to the four winds, mainly by me, but any quibbles are elementary when i break the news that one pair managed to complete ALL OF THE CHALLENGES!!! i think maybe they misread the rules or something, but they did it, and within the time limit n'all! so, without further delay, ado or procrastinisation, a round of applause for the thoroughly efficient winners of the 2005 edition of the Annual Oita AJET Charity Hitchhike...

with a collosal, (and poetically consecutive), 2,345 points...

alll the way from Nagasaki-ken..

"My Island is More Inaka Than Your Island"

or

SIERRA and PETER!!!

unberiebable! Todd and Hiro came in a "close" second with 1,425 points and a visit to the hospotal for exhaustion, and the bronze medal goes to The Teabag Party, my homeboys Piotr and Paul, with an impressive 1,305, (impressive coz ive seen them, and i cant believe ANYONE would stop to give em a lift, let alone offer them the THREE homestays they got!!!)

......

I should also mention that we DID NOT read the rules wrong. Peter and I intentionally did all the challenges in each prefecture because (well, my reason, anyway) I wanted to see as much as Kyushu as possible. It was perfect!

This is me on Aoshima in Miyazaki Prefecture. The Aoshima shrine honors the mythical deity Yamasachi Hiko, and the shrine itself is known for conferring divine blessings to those wishing to get married. I, of course, bought an omomori so I may have good luck when that time comes. The Devil's Washboard (what you see in the picture below), is washed by the black tide, an unusually-shaped rock formation whose name perfectly describes its appearance.

Going to watch a movie on my beautiful new DVD player now!
Love, Sierra

The Fight.