Life in Fukuoka, Japan: Friends, Fun and an Island......

What a great week I have had! My friend, Jackie, who I taught with in Peru came and stayed with Mark and I at our apartment. I have to say that I have not laughed so hard in a long time. It is always nice to see friends. Remember, all of you out there have a place to stay when you come to Fukuoka. I hope some of you really take advantage of that fact.

Jackie and I sat up late for four nights talking, talking and talking. It was such a treat. On Friday Jackie came to school so she could have a little tour of the school. Our school is smaller, but it is very nice. The view from my room can't be beat. I have a photo below that shows three fishermen fishing in the river outside of my window when the tide was coming back in. This is a daily occurrence, and I have even seen someone catch a pretty big fish.

Once we got back to our apartment we freshened up, fed the cats and then headed out to try Mr. Kebab. Most of you who follow my blog probably know that I have been trying to get to Mr. Kebab for a couple of weeks now. Luckily, this was our night. It was open!! It is a small little restaurant, but very cozy and fun. The owner is Turkish and spoke English. We found all of our favorites – falafel, hummus, garlic pita bread, avocado dip (this was new for us), tzatziki, kebabs (for the carnivores), baklava and a few other things. It was delicious and I felt so at home. The owner/chef came and introduced himself to us. I told him he would be seeing me on a regular basis. I also told him that his restaurant was my new FAVORITE restaurant. Yummmmm. I will be back for sure.

While we were at Mr. Kebab Jackie was sharing from her teaching experiences overseas and in the states. I have to say that they were very interesting, but more than that she had me rolling on the floor with laughter. I was actually crying. Not that all of the stories were funny haha, but just the images I got from them made me laugh. What a great treat it was to be able to be with friends and family and just have a wonderful evening out. Very fun!

Once we were full we took Jackie to Don Quijote. This store has a little of everything. I mean that very seriously. One day I will have to take some photos. You won't believe how much stuff is in there. If you are looking for something Don Quijote is the place to look. I can't share all of the things we saw, but I am still laughing and pondering some of the items. Very interesting if nothing else.

On Saturday I was going to attend my first Japanese lesson at the community center. Robyn, Corina and I met at Fujisake and headed over together. I am not going to lie, I was very nervous. After our first Thursday class at school were I just felt like a fish out of water I thought this would be the same or worse. It turned out to be better than I could have every thought. We went in and there were a lot of people from all over. Everyone is learning Japanese there, but some are beginners (like me), some are intermediate and some are advanced. There were Korean and Chinese students learning Japanese, too. The best part came when they told us we all had our own teachers. Yes, that is right. They were one to one lessons. All of the teachers volunteer their time. The gentleman that I had was very patient and very helpful. It was so nice. At first, I think I threw him for a loop when he kept speaking in Japanese and pointing to the hiragana characters. I kept telling him that I didn't know any of them yet. He would pull out a different picture and continue to ask me what it was. Finally, he realized that I knew nothing. He was very nice and we continued the lesson. He spoke English so I was able to ask for clarification and help. I am going to go and get some books to practice my hiragana characters. He told me that he is not always there on Saturdays, but when he is I can be with him. The other weeks I will have someone else. That is OK because I will get to see how others teach.

The scariest part of the class was when I found out we had to go in front of EVERYONE who was there and introduce ourselves in Japanese. Now, this wouldn't have been so nerve racking if I had a heads up. I had heard nothing until Robyn and Corina were going up. There guys told them and they had practiced. I felt a little like I was going to faint at first, but I toughened up and went in front of the room. Here is what I had to say:

Watashi no namae wa Mindi.

Watashi wa America kara kimashita.

Watashi wa eigono sensei desu.

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

I did it and everyone clapped. I felt so much better after it was over. I am determined to learn Japanese so I know I will be successful. Today one of my goals is to go to a few bookstores to look for the practice books. I will also be using my Rosetta Stone Japanese program. I will keep you updated on my practice Soon I will be typing in Japanese characters. Maybe you all should be learning Japanese so you will be able to read my blog.

After the class Robyn and I were going to meet up with Mark and then head to meet Gandhali at Daiya. The Marina Shoppers Mall had a lot of stores, a food court and other little shops inside. Gandhali's birthday was this past week so we wanted to be able to treat her to lunch before heading to Noko Island. Robyn and I went to my apartment to say goodbye to Jackie and to pick up Mark. Once we were ready we headed out on our bikes.

This is where the crash comes into the story. As we were riding our bikes, I was in the lead, I had to go into the road for a moment and then up the curb. Some of the curbs here are just very big and high. Once I positioned my bike to go up I knew I was going down. I could do nothing. My bike hit the curb at an odd angle and my bike and I toppled over. Now, I will say that it honestly could have been a lot worse. I cut up my big toe, got some skinned knees through my pants. I did not however break any bones or hurt anyone else. It was not pretty, and to make it worse there were a ton of cars lined up waiting for the stop light to change. I was a little embarrassed, but I knew I was very lucky it wasn't more serious. Mark and I had to go back to the apartment so I could clean up my toe and change my clothes. The funny thing is is that I was so hot when we got back from Japanese that I almost changed into shorts. If I would have done that I would have had sidewalk burns all over my legs. Funny how things work out.

From reading my other entries you should know by now that I do not let things like this keep me down. I had gotten right back on the bike to ride home. Once we were heading back out we took a taxi because we were running late. I thought for sure Robyn would have already arrived to meet Gandhali. When I realized that Robyn was not by Gandhali I was a little worried. We then saw her shortly after that. She had gone too far and ended up almost where we were going to have to walk to get to the ferry.

Finally we were all together and ready for lunch. There is a food court area so we were able to get what we wanted, or in my case what I could eat. I had a veggie avocado Subway sandwich. Yum-O. Yes, you heard me....we have Subway here. There are a lot of restaurants from the states here.

After lunch we were going to the ferry so we could head over to Nokoshima Island. We call it Noko Island for short. This was our first trip to any of the islands. Noko Island is famous for their huge park with all of the seasonal flowers. We had to wait for about 25-30 minutes for the next ferry to arrive. As we were waiting to get on the ferry we saw some of the teachers from our school leaving the ferry. The ferry only takes about 15 minutes to get to the island. It is not a long trip at all. It was so nice to see Fukuoka from a different vantage point.

Upon our arrival we got a taxi and had him take us to Nokoshima Island Park. Now, I had heard that there was a big park on the island, but I was not prepared for the size of the park. It is 1,000 JPY to get into the park. That is about $10. What a value. Here is where our planning could be better next time...we got in there and looked around and were just in awe of the size and beauty of the park. There are so many areas to visit and we knew that we didn't have much time since we didn't get there until about 3:30.

This is the season for all of the cosmos, coral trees, dahlias and crape maple to be blooming or changing colors. The colors are stunning. I do have many photos of the park. There were so many more I could have posted, but I know you only need a little taste of the park. The cosmos were not in full bloom yet, and in fact there were only a few blooming. When we go back next weekend I will be able to show you the difference a week can make.

Mark and I split up from Robyn and Gandhali just to see the sights. We ended up walking around and running into such beautiful views everywhere we turned. Where the majority of the cosmos will be blooming was a wedding being held. The ceremony was in both English and Japanese. It was a real wedding and it was so neat to see. There were people just sitting on mats around the park having lunch and having some quiet time with their loved ones.

One area is called the Kanna Garden. There is a statue up there that is called the Kannonsama of Love Statue. There were many people offering prayers in from of it and lying around on blankets. I have a couple of photos of the statue. As we continued on we saw the area where they have rabbits (I mean a ton of rabbits) and goats. There are play area all over the park for children. There really is something for everyone to see and do.

There are traditional old Japanese houses that they preserve so people can go in them. There are restaurants, craft areas, little shops and of course the flowers and plants. I have always been drawn to the trunks of trees. The cedar trees and other trees are very old and the trunks have a lot of character and life to them. It is so easy to think you see a face on the trunks.

Mark and I met back up with Robyn and Gandhali and we headed out to catch a taxi to get on the next ferry back. We were lucky because we got there right when the ferry was loading. The ferry ride is lovely. I didn't take many photos on the way back because it was very overcast.

Mark and I headed home while Robyn and Gandhali headed to the shops at Marinoa City.As were were walking home we stopped in a curtain shop that we have seen. We finally were able to order curtains for our bedroom. They take two weeks to arrive, but our bedroom may finally be dark. That will be such a treat!

Today we are off to get groceries, hit the 100 yen store to see what it has in it, and look for some Japanese practice books. I will update you later to report on the rest of the weekend. We have a three day weekend..woo hoo!!!!

Enjoy the photos.