Two weekends ago (June 13th), I went rafting somewhere in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi with a handful of other Yamaguchi JETs. We went on the Nishiki River. The rapids were pretty much a class 1... well, more like .5 if that were a ranking... not many rapids at all. But, it was still a lot of fun. The water was incedibly CLEAR and it was really pretty along the river. We also had 2 kayaks and those were much more fun. I think kayaks would not be fun in big rapids, but for our baby ones, it was pretty fun!
The same weekend I went rafting, I also took a day trip to Fukuoka with 2 co-workers from my base school (the art teacher and the Japanese history teacher). We originally went because the art teacher wanted to check out a Tibetan Exhibition. It was cool. Everything was written in Japanese, though, so I mostly just walked around and looked at stuff without REALLY knowing what it was. Trying to translate all of the readings would've taken far too long... so I didn't really try too much. If I wanted to know what something was, then I'd try to make out what the reading said... but I could mostly just pick out a few key words thanks to the kanji. It was still cool, though.
After the Exhibition, we made our way to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. Students go there to pray for a good grade before exams. I was praying for a new job come August :) Same thing.
While I was there, a nice old man came up to where I was sitting/laying, sat down in the sand next to me, and started a conversation for about 45 minutes. We chatted for a long time - well, he did most of the talking and I did the polite nodding of the head and Japanese sound effects. I finally got too hot and told him I was gonna go dip in the water and then he left without saying goodbye which I thought was a little odd. But then he came back with a present he had bought for me somewhere nearby and invited me to go eat with him at a restaurant nearby. I told him I'd love to, but had to catch a train back to Ube... which was half-true. It was also because I was exhausted, had a little too much to drink, and was majorly sunburnt. Encounters like this one remind me why I like this country :) and old people :)
After the Exhibition, we made our way to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. Students go there to pray for a good grade before exams. I was praying for a new job come August :) Same thing.
The week following the rafting and day trip to Fukuoka, I had Monday and Tuesday off. I pretty much did nothing all day Monday because I was exhausted. Tuesday, however, I made my way to Nijigahama Beach in Hikari. This is the same beach where the welcome party was way back in August and I hadn't been there since because it's pretty far from Ube. The weather was really great! There weren't any other people there except for a handful of people fishing. I went to the convenience store when I got to Hikari and bought a few beers and snacks. This was my spot for the day: 
While I was there, a nice old man came up to where I was sitting/laying, sat down in the sand next to me, and started a conversation for about 45 minutes. We chatted for a long time - well, he did most of the talking and I did the polite nodding of the head and Japanese sound effects. I finally got too hot and told him I was gonna go dip in the water and then he left without saying goodbye which I thought was a little odd. But then he came back with a present he had bought for me somewhere nearby and invited me to go eat with him at a restaurant nearby. I told him I'd love to, but had to catch a train back to Ube... which was half-true. It was also because I was exhausted, had a little too much to drink, and was majorly sunburnt. Encounters like this one remind me why I like this country :) and old people :)
On a side note: Last weekend I went to Saga for my friend Ian's birthday and it was FUN!
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