Traveling Kyushu with the woman of my dreams. A life-changing journey for countless reasons, to be divulged through a medley of photos, poetry, and prose.
The cute chart of plans Ayumi made for me. Subject to change due to weather, of course. Note the hat she's rocking.
Some forty minutes east of Kurume by kuruma, Yoshii is home to just over seventeen thousand residents. And I am precisely the second foreigner in the town, after Julian the half-Japanese ALT, who serves the elementary, middle and high schools.
Passing by a particularly tasteful house on the way to the town of Yame.
We actually sighted Julian briefly, at one point. Did not stop to get a picture. It's surprisingly easy to spot someone with a description as simple as "not black hair" in a town like this.
Somehow that's quite refreshing.
My willingness to actually employ Japanese in public slowly grows with every day and, with that, my confidence.
Over the past few days, taking it easy in Ayumi's home town, we have done a little sight seeing, and a lot of good eating. But it's served as the taste of authentic Japanese life I've always wanted, and has renewed my desire to live here for a time.
It's also given me a chance to look through Ayumi's many childhood photo albums. That's given me a view into her life that I'd never really gotten before.
And let me just say...
There were some others that I don't think I'll upload here. But this one is one of my favorites.
I've also been able to play Hanabi (the card game) with Ayumi's sister, Megumi. She said she would try using English for me, for which I was very grateful. But it's a pretty simple game, and even my shoddy Japanese does just fine. We had good laughs as Megumi was eager to win, and as we talked about how she'd probably have fun playing with my mom (with whom it's very fun to play Hanabi for her "helpful" facial expressions), and my sister.
The first course at Nanakusa. Special tofu,
Ayumi has also taken me around, in spite of the rain, to see her elementary and junior high school--which I will get picture of once the rain lets up.
Because of the two typhoons coming in, it's been literally nonstop rain (with the time of my writing this being the only break we've had from it for days).
Two days ago we ate at the amazing Nanakusa, in the nearby town of Yame, where we had a four course meal of soba, tofu, vegetables, and finishing with matcha and pudding.
Costing only about 3,000 yen for both of us, the experience was particularly elegant and delightful. I'm not one for food photos, but...
Egg, tomato and lettuce, pickles, a different type of tofu, and eggplant with okra.
Hand-cut soba with chicken-mushroom rice, more pickles, and the soba dipping sauce.
A dessert of matcha with pudding (yes, and frosted flakes on it).
The building itself was also quite elegant. One of the students at the English school where Ayumi works used to live here, and wound up selling it to the folks who now run Nanakusa out of the building. It would have made an amazing house, albeit quite loud when the cicadas come out.
Ayumi peeking out from the Nanakusa front entrance
...and me in front of it.
Check out the actual sound of these cicadas. It's amazingly loud.
Please note: to our detriment, I let in about ten mosquitoes for the sake of this video. I have proof all over my ankles.
After that, since the town of Yame is famous for its green tea, we went to a place called "Yame-cha Soft Cream" to have some green tea ice cream.
Taking a picture of you...
...Getting a shot of me!
With more coming later, of course. It's hard to keep up on blogging because we're spending so much time doing things. Which I quite enjoy. We're about to leave for Miyazaki, en route to which we will stop at 熊本城 to do some sight seeing.
The view from a pedestrian bridge nearby our hotel, Bizfort Hakata.
After a tired night, Ayumi and I woke up and started getting ready for the day. I had just barely beat a typhoon when coming here, so my first experience of Japan has truly been "authentic," to say the least. We walked the city streets in what was, at the time, a mild wind and rain, and did some shopping.
The idea here was to take it easy for the first day. And maybe have Ayumi buy me some swanky, stylish Japanese clothes. Of course, only half of that worked. Even the largest sizes available in the stores were comically tight on me. Guess I'll have to go to the Japanese equivalent of "Big and Tall."
Also, check out this out. A part of the larger Tenjin shopping area, Solaria Plaza has some swanky bathrooms.
Luckily, heads are big everywhere. In the name of our trip to Miyazaki, which will possibly be quite hot and sunny, I got a nice new hat which should offer minor respite at least. Ayumi got a hat too--her first one! And if you ask me, she rocks it like a jazz pianist.
The amazing Ayumi,
and some wonderful mentaiko omrice!
For lunch we went to a small shopcalled Gokoku specializing in omrice. That's short for "omelette rice," which is simply some kind of deluxe omelette over a plate of special rice. Both the omelette and the rice can have special ingredients mixed in.
We had mentaiko omrice, which has marinated cod eggs mixed into the rice, giving it a spicy flavor and red coloration. Amazingly savory and delightful, and something I recommend to even people without a well-developed Japanese palette for its simple, slightly cheesy flavor.
To boot, Japanese cuisine has some of the best omelettes out there. Fluffy and light, with extremely high-quality eggs--you're able to watch them fall apart as you cut into them, and they simply melt in your mouth.
Some of those cute things.
After some more shopping, during which I got the two latest Murakami books (色彩を持たない多崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年 and 女のいない男たち, the latter of which has no English version), we then stopped at a place called Nana's Green Tea to get exactly what you would guess. Delicious green tea on the rocks, with freshly-whipped thick cream, and molasses poured over the top.
Finally, we caught up with Ayumi's friends for dinner at an amazing restaurant called Hyoutei Hakata where, among other things, I ate still-moving (but dead) squid. The squid comes in two parts. First, they leave the squid intact while you eat the mantle and fins. Then, once it's eaten, the plate is removed and the rest is fast fried, tempura style.
The a is pronounced "ah"
in Japanese, meaning
this says "tic toc." But,
you know: Tic Tacs.
It's been an ongoing realization that continues to balance itself on both extremes: first, I realize I can actually speak Japanese. I can make myself known, and express my opinions and exchange conversations. Then shortly after that, I realize that I'm probably about the equivalent of an elementary school student in terms of actual ability.
But regardless of how I feel about it, the fact of the matter is that this tool I've been developing for years has found its home at last, and I've been able to make proper use of it.
Ayumi's friends, who know my completely-secret plans, jumped on the first opportunity to grill me as soon as Ayumi left for the restroom. They asked me my favorite things about her.
To avoid getting sappy I won't describe my more expository answer, but I will say that they seemed happy with what I had to say.
Ate this still-moving squid! First you eat the mantle, then once it's gone the rest is taken away, tempura-fried,
and brought back to you. Also note Saori-san's expert photobombing.
Sho, Tomoko, Marie, Yuki, Kanae, Yuki,
Haruna, Ayumi and Me, Yukako (with the cute little Yuzu), Shinji, and Saori.
Thanks to Haruna for reserving this fantastic place for us!
Finally, Ayumi and I made our way back to the hotel. Jet lag has been hard to overcome so far, though I feel its grip loosening on me. We collapsed onto the bed and I fell asleep immediately, enjoying the relief given by the AC. And I slipped into a dream forgotten to me now, but one that served to remind me that none of this is a dream: it's all real.
For the last several weeks I've been living in terms of how long it would be until I came to Japan. Until I came to see the nation I'd dreamed of visiting for years. A nation which lives and breathes in its own way, with a unique pulse, with big cities feeling like all big cities do anywhere in the world, yet with some sort of different feeling. A nation in which all my senses tell me this is just another country--yet a nation which tells me "this is not the same." I have been waiting, counting down, until I came to see this.
Until I came to see Ayumi.
The massive 747-400 that took me to Seoul. Double decker!
Through twenty four hours of travel from Portland to Vancouver, from Vancouver to Seoul, and from Seoul to Fukuoka international, a fog overtook my mind. I can't sleep on planes, and so I took the chance to finally dig into 1Q84. For anyone who's read the book you will know that its plot surely did not help the fog sneaking in through my eyes, my ears, seeping into the cracks of my brain.
I also took the chance to watch Grand Budapest Hotel (good) and, right after that, I tried watching The Amazing Spiderman 2 (don't watch this after a good movie because you'll be acutely aware of just how bad it is).
Let's play "Spot the hipster." No matter what, you lose.
My flight from Vancouver to Seoul was delayed by over an hour. With what was originally a forty-minute transfer in Seoul, I was worried I'd miss my plane. Luckily, we caught a proper tailwind that helped me along, carrying me along my way with caring hands. I barely made the transfer, and was spirited away to my final destination, just over an hour more away.
Consciousness seemed a foreign idea to me.
When I landed, I could barely make my way through the airport. Yet everywhere was painted the letters and writings I'd been studying. And though I'd always known, I felt like I was coming to finally comprehend the authenticity of my education. But the feeling was dull, like touching a tatami mat with numb feet.
I went through customs in Japanese: the first of my tests. Though I was tired, I stumbled through it with reasonable efficacy.
I grabbed my bag.
I walked out the arrival-gate door. Fog sneaked behind my eyes as I looked around.
And when I saw Ayumi jump up from her seat and run towards me, the fog of travel, tiredness, and jet lag was blasted away by a gust of fresh air, in stark contrast to the humid atmosphere my lungs took in.
