Golden Week Day 12

You can see the pics posted during the trip here.

前の携帯の写真はここで。

We saw Otaka’s Path in a guidebook and liked the pictures, so we decided to go.

ガイドブックお鷹の道を見たから行って見た。

It was pretty.

きれい。

But really, it wasn’t so interesting.

本当にとても面白くなかった。

The train ride to the airport.

空港まで電車に。

Our last meal together. 

最後の一緒にご飯を食べた。

Yum!

とても美味しかった！

Mandie bought a Kitty.

妹はキティちゃんを買った。

After she left, I headed to my hostel.

妹は飛行機でいたの後にホステルへ行った。

It was only a few minutes south of Narita Airport, but it was in the middle of nowhere.

成田空港の南に５分ぐらいかかったけど、とても田舎の所。

I went to my first-ever not-Hokkaido Michi-no-Eki (like a cross between an information center, local shop, rest stop and restaurant).

最初の北海道以外道の駅へ行った。

This was the hostel’s bicycle.

ホステルの自転車。

All these strawberries for 300 yen – so cheap! (I’ve been in Japan too long . . . )

この苺は300円。安い！日本に住んでいる事は長すぎる。

One last adventure, part 2

After our travels on Yagishiri island, in my earlier post, H, R and I continued on to Teuri Island.


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When we got off the boat, we were greeted the man from our Hostel who had worried when H called, in perfect Japanese, if we could speak enough Japanese. He loaded our stuff into a cart and then accompanied us to the bike rental shop.

We rented bikes from the very kind people in the shop, who almost acted as though we were the only foreigners to have ever come to the island (I’m certain this isn’t true because I have friends who recommended coming to the island).

Then, we met the island’s police man.



He warned us that recently there had been a few accidents with visitors when they decided to cycle the island (as we had decided to do) and rather than stop to look at the scenery they took their eyes off the road. He cautioned us to be careful and if we wanted to look, to pull off to the side and stop.

Both he and the cycling shop warned us that we would go around a corner of fairly easy riding and then it would be steep riding for about 3k. We set off, following the directions to make sure we had water with us before we got to the steep part.

But, as expected it got steep, too steep for either H or I to stay on our cycles for long.



R on the other hand has been doing lots of insane rides lately and was able to stay on her bike slightly longer.



The view from near the top made the ride very much worth it (though we did consider jumping in a few times, but decided not to as we’d have to get back up).



Though it’s not an amazing picture, look at how blue the water is.



As we cycled the island, we ran into our cop friend several more times. Our conclusion is that with about 350 people on the island he doesn’t have enough to do, so he make sure the tourists are ok.



From the top, we went out to a viewpoint, where we were able to see many kinds of sea birds.

When we got to the Ryokan we had decided to stay at, we were amazed to find that it looked straight out on the docks.



After a quick shower, it was time for dinner.



Dinner was full of fresh seafood and uni (sea urchin). Unfortunately for us foreigners, the uni was still moving. Every time we touched it, the tentacles started moving. I was quite afraid to eat it.

Thankfully the ryokan owner came in to check on us and see if we knew how to eat it. When we responded that we did not, he came over and showed us how to break it open.



Unfortunately, it still continued to move. Despite this problem, I did manage to taste some of it (you eat the orange-ish part). It wasn’t bad, but it sort of tasted like sea-pudding, mostly just salty. It wasn’t bad and I can eat it, but it’s not something I’d choose on purpose again.
When we finished, we headed out for a walk and to see the sunset.





I’m not sure if this picture is going to do it justice, but it was a gorgeous sunset. Including a view of Mt. Rishiri.



On Monday morning, we woke up to another yummy Ryokan breakfast.



Though, I was surprised to find that the egg in the middle was raw. Apparently you’re supposed to mix it with rice and soy sauce.



I’m not sure I’d call it good, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as I had expected.

After breakfast, we gathered our things, returned the bikes and set off once again on the ferry.

Unfortunately, the clouds were low, so we had a soupy sort of fog to look at as we returned.





We made it back to the mainland after a fun weekend, anticipating the next weekend (and bit of the week) to be filled with English Camp and more fun last times together.

Where'd the Oregonian go?

This morning I woke up and it was grey outside. We’ve had a lot of grey days recently, so I assume it will warm up. At my junior high (where I was today), they are doing construction and rarely open the windows. I choose light clothes, to keep from overheating, while sitting in the stuffy staffroom. Once ready, I grab my bag, slip on my flip-flops and take off for school on my bike.

I have one class over the course of the day, so I spend my day trying to book a flight home, studying Japanese and chatting with friends.

As I walk to the second year room for lunch, I realize it’s pouring and decide my best course of action is to hope it will let up before 4:30, when I get to head home.

Slowly the minutes tick by. I am working on an email when 4:30 rolls around. I say goodbye to the friends I’m chatting with and the teachers who are actually in the staffroom at that time (many are out doing things with the students).

When I get to the genkan, where we change our shoes as we come in or out, I stand there for a minute, just stare at the rain, and laugh. I’m an Oregonian, I should have known better, right? Why did I think the rain would hold off as the weather forecast said? (Probably because it didn’t come at all this weekend).

As I’m standing there, Kanayama-san, our janitor walks up and asks if I have an umbrella. I shake my head no and mention that I have no jacket either, thinking still about how I should have known better. He smiles and hands me an umbrella. I ask if it’s ok and he says it is.

As I reach my hand into the box labeled with レベッカ (Rebecca), I remember that I wore flip-flops that morning. I slowly switch my shoes, thinking of how wet I’m about to get and head outside to realize this is going to be my first-ever umbrella bike ride.

By the time I get to the bike shelter across the parking lot, I’ve avoided a few puddles and watched a few students go running to or from the building in rain suits. “They were prepared,” I think.

The bike shelter surprises me, when I arrive, because it has a good inch of water or so on the ground that I have to wade through to get to my bike. Getting a bike out with one hand on an umbrella is much more complicated than I expect, but I get the bike out with minimal water on the seat and only slightly wet toes.

As I ride across the parking lot, I realize that it’s not as hard as I thought it would have been (especially considering I was trying to text and bike ride the other day). Holding the umbrella out in the wind, so that I can still see is the most difficult part.

Very quickly, I realize that hurrying home on my bike with the wind in my face and an umbrella in hand is a bad idea and will likely cause a gaijin-bicycle scramble (gaijin = foreigner). Thinking about how crazy this is and that I’d never have attempted it at home, I spend the whole ride home laughing. I begin laughing even harder when I realize that the umbrella helped me avoid a shower that included my head, but very much didn’t prevent the rest of my body from being soaked.

Laughter saves English Teacher from Imminent Doom

(Ok, the title’s a bit dramatic, but it made me laugh when I thought of it, so I had to share)

This morning I was riding my bike to school. It was raining and I had forgotten to tighten down my hood. My face began to get wet, so I decided to attempt to hold my hood with one hand and hold the handlebars with the other. I was surprised at how well this worked. My coordination must be increasing with riding my bike every day. There’s no way I would have been able to do this before.

As I continue in the direction of work, I look up and another bicyclist is coming from the opposite direction, but on the same side of the road. He is holding his umbrella just a few inches in front of his face, making it impossible for him to see what is coming. I begin to giggle quietly because one would only see this in Japan. Or maybe just anywhere besides the Northwest (I think Washington people would grab a rain jacket too).

As I’m giggling to myself, I realize he can’t see me. This gets me laughing aloud. I don’t want to have to explain that I had an accident with another bicyclist when I’m late to work (which I totally would have been if we had collided) and I have no idea what to say in Japanese to get his attention. As I’m considering my options and realizing I should pull into the road, he swerves in the same direction.

My laugh gets even louder. He moves the umbrella and just as we get close enough to collide.

This whole situation makes me continue to giggle all the way to work. I have been told by so many people that I have a great laugh and that it stands out. What should save my life today? My laugh. I love the Lord’s sense of humor.