Dartboard

I’m sick again. I wasn’t ever completely over my bronchitis (which lasted a full month), but now I have a cold, too. My nose is blocked, my head is pounding and it hurts my chest to breathe. What happened to The Immune System of Steel that I use to boast about?

I haven’t written much recently because I’ve been away on the weekends and the weeks have been both shorter and busier. Some of you probably enjoy it when I have less to say. I’m trying to please the masses… =)

I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Fukuoka. I traveled over with Lori on Saturday morning. Because of overbooked ferries to Sasebo we had to take the roundabout ferry to Nagasaki and then a train up to Fukuoka. It cost $100 (one way) and took about a million hours. I just seem to have bad luck on this sumo weekend. Last year Kerry and I missed our boat twice and arrived at the basho for the last (albeit the most important) 20 matches.

After sumo I hung out with Dawn, Taka and Tomoko in Fukuoka. Taka cruised around the city while Dawn and I “karaoked” out the car windows to classics by the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. That is still fun to do at 23—and I was the youngest in the car! It’s extremely convenient (and FUN!) having a car in the city so I really soaked it up. We all had dinner together at an izakaya in Canal City. The Christmas lights are up already and it was really beautiful. I have pictures, but I’m too lazy to download them and upload them now. I’ll get around to it eventually.

I stayed the night at Tomoko (and sister Sumi’s) house, just on the outskirts of Fukuoka. I was planning on leaving Sunday afternoon from Sasebo, but the last ferry was still too early to allow me any real time with Tomoko and Sumi. I decided to take the midnight/overnight ferry back instead—a decision made easily enough when surrounded by fun city activities and friends and later regretted when I have to wake up at 6 a.m. after being on a ferry all night and then put in a full day’s work.

I’m glad I did it, though. We went to a Handel concert in Kitakyushu with the girls’ mother. Beautiful music, but 3 hours of gospel music is about my breaking point. I was pretty happy when it was over. We also tried going to their neighborhood fortune teller, but he wasn’t home. I was really looking forward to my first fortune, too!! Apparently he sells your fortune for a hot dog. I didn’t work out if he has a hot dog stand as a side-business and you must buy a hot dog from him before he’ll give you the fortune, or if you must bring him a hot dog because he really likes dogs and figures that’s a fair trade for your future. It would have been interesting to see this guy.

Wednesday is a holiday and I’ve got the day off. I’m cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my Aokata ekaiwa students and the turkey was just delivered today. I wasn’t going to do a turkey this year, but they had never tasted the bird and were willing to pay for it—internet turkey shopping isn’t cheap!! I’m looking forward to teaching them how to cook all our Thanksgiving favorites and sitting around with my Japanese family for the holidays. I sure hope I’m feeling better by then.

Well, I wanted to be back in bed by 10 and it’s already twenty past so I’m going to shut down. I’ve been looking through my gjestebok that everyone wrote in before I left Oregon last summer and I love reading all your messages and looking at the pictures. I’ve found it to be the best way to “see” all of you when I’m missing you.

Take care as it gets colder this year. Don’t be an old sicko like me!

All my love,
Sierra