Kosotai and dinner

There was a 2 hour assembly this afternoon where all the athletes who will be competing in the kosotai marched into the gym to the sound of the brass band playing and everyone clapping.

The captain of each team introduced the members of their teams and said a few words about how they had accomplished in previous years and what they hope to win this year.

The whole event felt like we were sending these athletes off to war….

Later in the evening after school, we had a little yakiniku (fry meat) get-together at Miyamoto sensei’s place.

We always have a good time at these get-togethers!

All the classes this week were shortened in order to give more time to the students to prepare for the upcoming kosotai (a nation-wide inter-high school sports competition) which will be starting this saturday.

Every day after school, the students who are not participating in any of the sporting events are gathered together to practice the school cheer.

During the kosotai, they will spread around the prefecture to cheer on Seiryo's team at different sporting events.

Taiko

About a month ago, I got a couple of tickets to a KODO show. They have travelled around the world doing shows and are currently touring around Japan. I was excited when I found out that they would be in Nagasaki for a couple of days!

Alex and I had planned to meet up downtown at the train a station, a popular meeting spot, but once there, found that it was crazy crowded…apparently there was some band that was going to be putting on a show in the afternoon. The band’s name: ‘Funky Monkey Babies’.

After wandering downtown for a bit, we made our way to the venue where the KODO taiko performance was going to be held. The performance was great fun to watch, the beating of the taiko drums continued resonating within you long after the performance was over.

We ended the evening at Nanak, an Indian restaurant near Hamanomachi. I love Indian!

Yakushima trip (May 17-21)

Yakushima is a small island out in the Pacific, 2 hours by boat south of Kagoshima. Its isolation from the mainland has allowed for distinct fauna and flora to flourish. For a place where it said to rain ‘35 days a month’, we lucked out having 4 straight days of beautiful sunny weather!

We rented a car for our 3 day stay, and stayed at a hostel in the southern part of the island.

The main activities to do on this island are hiking, hiking and…..well, more hiking. The main attraction is Jomon-Sugi, a cedar tree thought to be 7000 years old. We got a lot of conflicting information about how long a hike this particular trail leading to the tree would take, some saying 5 hours while others warned us it would take us 14 hours or more. We decided to find out for ourselves.

We woke up at 3:45am, out the door by 4:30am, arrived at the entrance to the hiking trail by 5:30am and started up at the very early hour of 6am. We made it back to the entrance at 4pm…it took us 10 hours!

The first 2 hours, we followed a levelled path along a train track (used many years ago to bring down lumber).

The next bit was a bit more challenging...

...though it wasn’t as much of a mountain climb as I thought it would be. There were many areas where wooden steps had been added. I found the repetitive motion of going up steps more difficult than trying to find your own path through the forest.

After about 5 hours, we made it to Jomon-Sugi!

Had it not been surrounded by a wooden fence to keep people away from it, I wouldn’t have thought it was any different from the other trees around.

We spent a good hour or so gawking at the famous tree, had lunch and rested before starting our way back down.

Once we got out of the ‘woody’ area of the climb, we still had the train track trail to follow back to the parking lot. The last 2 hour walk seemed interminable!!

Having completed the hike to Jomon-sugi, we had to capture the momeny we made it back to the car.

The next day, we got up at the bright at the early hour of 7:30am and went to Shiratani Unsuikyo Gorge. When we set off for this hike, I thought it was going to be more of a walk. Although this hike was shorter than the day before (a little over 5 hours in total), it turned out to be much tougher!

We walked through dense moss covered woods.

The last 10 minutes of this trail was a gruelling straight up climb to reach Taikoishi rock.

The view from the boulder was breathtaking… In the distance was Miyanoura-dake, the tallest peak. It felt like we were on top of the world. With nothing around the sides of the boulder, it also felt like you could easily fall to your death. The area where you could stand was quite small with only enough room to have maybe 15 people.

On our way back down, all three of us had aches and pain..

But we made it!

We met an interesting fellow who was a pilgrim from Shikoku travelling around Kyushyu. We gave him a ride back to town and wished him well. Before leaving the island, we ran into him several times. Guess that's how small an island it was..!

That night, we enjoyed a nice long soak in one of the hottest onsens (hot springs) I have ever been in. I don't think ever enjoyed soaking in an onsen as much as I did that night...

There are also some beautiful falls that can be found on the island.

We visited one called Ohko-no-taki before making our way to the port to start are long journey back home.

We definitely got our share of fresh air and exercice on this trip!

Last day of work before the long weekend

Well..technically, it's not really a long weekend. Tomorrow is daikyu in place of classes this Saturday. But since there will also be a PTA meeting and I don't have any responsibilities I'm taking the day off. About a month ago, I asked about getting Monday off as well in order to make the most of this weekend...The rest of the week will be extremely busy in order to make up for the day I'm away, but it will be worth it!

So this morning was a little hectic, having to finish up my packing on top of getting the regular morning stuff done before leaving for work.

I left all my luggage (and there’s quite a bit of it..) in the car. As soon as work is over, I will be heading to Kumamoto to meet Erica and Miwako. We’ll be leaving tomorrow around 6am to catch the early ferry to Yakushima.

It's 2:30pm now, another 2 hours before I can head off. I can't wait!

New computer has arrived!

I received my computer today, woohoo!!

I was so eager to start using it that as soon as I the secretary called up to say that there’s a large box bearing my name that had arrived, I ran downstairs. I couldn’t wait till getting home to open it up, so I brought it back up to the staff room and pulled it out of the box to see what my new little computer looks like! (as well as make sure it’s all in working condition). I had forgotten about the pads that were included in the box, and tried to keep them from being seen by everyone. However, I didn't have much luck since the four teachers around me were looking over as I opened the box to see what the new computer that I had been so eagerly awaiting for was like. Oh well.

I pull out the sexy-looking black and blue neon-coloured computer (picture to be added soon), I turn it on and it asks for a password. Huh? A password? What password?! I try all the words that I think my mom might possibly think of using. No luck.

I email everyone at home asking what the password is, but with the 13-hour time difference, I’m afraid I’m going to have to wait till late this evening before I get an answer.

But no, a few hours later..I receive the password!! Yay! I can now log on!

Seeing that the power is low, I go to plug in the laptop. Three prongs don’t fit into the 2-prong wall outlet. Argh.

On my way home from school, just before Best Dinki (japanese version of Best Buy) closes, I run in, explain what I need in broken Japanese, buy what they give me and run out, looking forward to getting home and being able to spend time to become acquainted with my new computer.

I get home, and find that the connector they gave me is the wrong one…!! But the shop is now closed. Argh.

Although this is a bit of a rocky start to our relationship, I am hoping that things will smooth over once I get a chance to personalize and transfer all information to the new computer...!

Kaihori

Apparently, kaihori (digging for clams) is a very popular pastime in Japan!

Though when we went, we didn't have to fight the crowds to find a spot to dig. :)

In an attempt to build up some endurance in preparation for our major hike next weekend, I’ve been walking more to places where I would normally drive.

I was planning to go to the dollar store, and since the weather was so beautiful today, decided to walk it. It’s a good 1 hour walk one-way, but it’s along the water and makes for a very pleasant walk.


A shortcup behind my apartment, involving lots and lots of steps.

Despite all the hills which make for a lot of up and down no matter where you want to go, I love this town. It's a beautiful place to live!

This past week was spent mostly working at school then at SONY. I'm enjoying getting to know the managers there, it is interesting to learn about what's involved in the manufacturing of the SONY Playstation 3 parts!

School has been extra busy with lots of schedule changes, making it a little difficult to fall into a regular routine. But the classes are going well, so I can't complain. Time goes by so quickly!

Today started off with a 1.5 hour drive to Saga to meet up with Erica and Miwako. It was a gorgeous day which made for a very pleasant drive up to Saga! Over lunch, we firmed up our plans for our 4-day trip to Yakushima next weekend (an island about 2 hours off Kagoshima). We are planning to hike up Jomon sugi, where there is a 7000 year old tree. According to Erica's guidebook, the trek should take about 14 hours in total. Gambarimasu!

Back in Isahaya in the evening, I hung at Amber's place for a while before we headed out for dinner at an okonomiyaki place near my school. She spent golden week in scuba diving in Okinawa, it was nice to get a chance to catch up.

Before heading back, we made a quick trip to the grocery store where, without fail, I run into several different people I know...and some strange guy who strikes up a conversation in the milk section. He kinda creeped me out, but Amber thought it was very amusing!

Roxy's a star!

My little sister’s music video is on the Youtube featured list!

http://youtubestars.blogspot.com/2007/05/youtubestars-show.html

Wow, you rock, Roxy!!

May's visit (May 3-5)

DAY1

After what turned out to be an 18.5 hour bus ride from Tokyo, May finally arrived in Nagasaki!

We wandered around the Peace Park, where many statues donated from countries around the world can be found. They are all representations of the sculptors' ideas of peace.


Later in the evening, we met up with a friend who I had met during the Japanese course in Tokyo. Sarah and her parents were doing a road trip around Kyushu, and arrived in Nagasaki today. So the 5 of us met up for dinner, then headed to Inasa yama (mount) to admire the night view of Nagasaki city.

Once we finally got home, we still had lots of catching up to do and had ourselves a little guitar playing session. After her long travel today, I don't know how May managed to remain awake as late as we did!

DAY 2

So much for accurate weather forcasts..! It wasn't supposed to rain till Sunday, but we had strong rains all day today! We stuck to our plans of visiting jigoku (hell) today, hoping that the rain would let up once we arrived.

It didn't.

Here's what hell looks like on a raining day:

When we got back to Nagasaki, the rain finally let up a little. We visited the adorable looking penguins at the aquarium near my place.

Later in the evening, we met up with Ryo for dinner. May wanted to visit the Baha'i center, so we dropped by the center and ended up leaving the car there and walking down to Hamanomachi. Along the 30 minute walk or so, we strolled by some of Nagasaki's tourists sites:
Meganebashi - the oldest stone arch bridge in Japan - and Suwa jinga (shrine) amongst others.

Hamanomachi shopping arcade.

After dinner, we ended the evening with purikura..!

DAY 3

After a stormy night, the rain gave us a bit of break in the morning. We took advantage of it and went downtown to do some omiyage (souvenirs) shopping - a very important part of traveling in Japan - and take in some more sights.

Oura church

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb museumYou can never go wrong with kaitenzushi !

Saying goodbye at the bus station

Just as May's bus pulled away for her long journey back up to Tokyo, the rain started up again. I'm glad it held off till then. It was a fun-filled 3 day visit, I look forward to seeing May again soon!!