The Weekend Review: Ushimado Miracles
The weekend started off a bit rough, worrying me that the string of bad luck that I enountred in America had followed me to Japan.
On Friday, I basically went to bed after the enkai (work party), but it all started on Saturday morning (when I was actually up early and in a chirpy mood). I decided to run some errands, so first things first, I biked to Kakogawa (30k RT?) to discover the bank I needed to go to was closed ALL weekend due to the holiday on Monday. I decided not to sweat it and headed to meet a friend for lunch. I waited for about 40 (embarassing) minutes, however, before I decided it was time to leave and asked for a raincheck. I guess the guy I was meeting went to another place so we both got stood up due to miscommunication. Either way, the staff asked me TWICE if he was coming and I got a lot of pity looks, so I was in a bad mood, hungry and sweaty again from the bike ride by the time I got home. I decided to just make the most of the rest of my free time, so I made lunch, packed a bag for the weekend and headed to the post office to send off transcript requests, which was also closed for the weekend. Mochiron! What bad luck!
While the a.m. obviously did not fare well for me, the good news is that things picked up and it was otherwise a fabulous renkyu (long weekend). I attended probably one of the best Japanese classes I have been to yet (felt more challenged, exactly what I am looking for) and I just returned from a very relaxing weekend at a lovely seaside resort town in Okayama Prefecture.
Kelly was originally supposed to join us on the trip, but she couldn't go, so my new neighbor Tu agreed to come. We left after my class on Saturday afternoon meeting my friends Art, Adela and Robyn in Himeji, who were patiently waiting for us in Art and Adela's pinkish-red, literally boxy, adorable little car. The scenery on the way from Himeji to Ushimado City was amazing: rolling, green hills, numerous inlets from the sea, and momentary glimses of the small, rocky islands. There were five in our group (Adela and Art from Sayo, Robyn from Ono, and my neighbor Tu), but had two large rooms at the "foriegner cabin" we stayed at. Okayama has several of these cabins, actually, which I think were started as a campaign to encourage tourists to travel outside of cities (providing very nice housing at a cheap prices, at that time for foreigners only). The place we stayed at was called Ushimado Villa, which was set on a mountainside and overlooked the sea, sleepy fishing village, and olive gardens below. Luckily, the entire front of the building consisted of windows, so it was
Having a car made it easy to get around and explore, but we really spent the weekend just hanging out; enjoying wine, playing card games, watching movies (surprisingly loved Grindhouse), swimming and having some really good fresh fish and fruit! I was also able to explore some nearby farms, a really beautiful, old cemetary and a big temple on morning runs. On our second day, we did venture out to find the beach and ended up taking the car ferry to a nearby island, Maejima. We were pleased to find a small, secluded beach where the temperature was perfect for swimming. After wading around in the water for a while, hunting down the best pieces of sea glass on the beach (they were everywhere) and relaxing on the sand for a while, we made the decision to lock up our valuables in the car and swim to another small island chain nearby (accessible only by sailboat). We made it across the chanel in about 30 minutes (wearing only our suits and swimming with our sandals on our hands), but most of us got stung by jellyfish on the way (they got me twice... it hurts!) and Robyn cut her foot on the oyster shells. Despite the sacrifices, it was nice to enjoy the breathtaking views and walk along the beaches of the small, almost deserted islands (three in all, connected by two curved sandbars).
After the island, we actually all drove back to Art and Adela's house in Sayo. Adela works at an Agricultural school in the country. Her setting is so much different than mine (her school has a barn!), but I was a little envious by the sheets of real grass she was able to put down in her small, back yard area. Lena and I often discuss that "normal" grass is one of the things we miss most being here. We went to a monkey park for a while (the monkeys are cute, but the mothers are so aggressive!), to a really great italian restaruant, and then all headed home to crash after a busy weekend of... well, relaxing.
If you are ever in Japan and want to check out the foreigner cabins, here is a website for the ones in Okayama. I've heard there's some other really excellent locations and I was truly blown away by the experience: http://www.harenet.ne.jp/villa/. I'm gearing up for another week, so hope you have a lovely weekend and stay safe... wherever you are! -b
On Friday, I basically went to bed after the enkai (work party), but it all started on Saturday morning (when I was actually up early and in a chirpy mood). I decided to run some errands, so first things first, I biked to Kakogawa (30k RT?) to discover the bank I needed to go to was closed ALL weekend due to the holiday on Monday. I decided not to sweat it and headed to meet a friend for lunch. I waited for about 40 (embarassing) minutes, however, before I decided it was time to leave and asked for a raincheck. I guess the guy I was meeting went to another place so we both got stood up due to miscommunication. Either way, the staff asked me TWICE if he was coming and I got a lot of pity looks, so I was in a bad mood, hungry and sweaty again from the bike ride by the time I got home. I decided to just make the most of the rest of my free time, so I made lunch, packed a bag for the weekend and headed to the post office to send off transcript requests, which was also closed for the weekend. Mochiron! What bad luck!
While the a.m. obviously did not fare well for me, the good news is that things picked up and it was otherwise a fabulous renkyu (long weekend). I attended probably one of the best Japanese classes I have been to yet (felt more challenged, exactly what I am looking for) and I just returned from a very relaxing weekend at a lovely seaside resort town in Okayama Prefecture.
Kelly was originally supposed to join us on the trip, but she couldn't go, so my new neighbor Tu agreed to come. We left after my class on Saturday afternoon meeting my friends Art, Adela and Robyn in Himeji, who were patiently waiting for us in Art and Adela's pinkish-red, literally boxy, adorable little car. The scenery on the way from Himeji to Ushimado City was amazing: rolling, green hills, numerous inlets from the sea, and momentary glimses of the small, rocky islands. There were five in our group (Adela and Art from Sayo, Robyn from Ono, and my neighbor Tu), but had two large rooms at the "foriegner cabin" we stayed at. Okayama has several of these cabins, actually, which I think were started as a campaign to encourage tourists to travel outside of cities (providing very nice housing at a cheap prices, at that time for foreigners only). The place we stayed at was called Ushimado Villa, which was set on a mountainside and overlooked the sea, sleepy fishing village, and olive gardens below. Luckily, the entire front of the building consisted of windows, so it was
Having a car made it easy to get around and explore, but we really spent the weekend just hanging out; enjoying wine, playing card games, watching movies (surprisingly loved Grindhouse), swimming and having some really good fresh fish and fruit! I was also able to explore some nearby farms, a really beautiful, old cemetary and a big temple on morning runs. On our second day, we did venture out to find the beach and ended up taking the car ferry to a nearby island, Maejima. We were pleased to find a small, secluded beach where the temperature was perfect for swimming. After wading around in the water for a while, hunting down the best pieces of sea glass on the beach (they were everywhere) and relaxing on the sand for a while, we made the decision to lock up our valuables in the car and swim to another small island chain nearby (accessible only by sailboat). We made it across the chanel in about 30 minutes (wearing only our suits and swimming with our sandals on our hands), but most of us got stung by jellyfish on the way (they got me twice... it hurts!) and Robyn cut her foot on the oyster shells. Despite the sacrifices, it was nice to enjoy the breathtaking views and walk along the beaches of the small, almost deserted islands (three in all, connected by two curved sandbars).
After the island, we actually all drove back to Art and Adela's house in Sayo. Adela works at an Agricultural school in the country. Her setting is so much different than mine (her school has a barn!), but I was a little envious by the sheets of real grass she was able to put down in her small, back yard area. Lena and I often discuss that "normal" grass is one of the things we miss most being here. We went to a monkey park for a while (the monkeys are cute, but the mothers are so aggressive!), to a really great italian restaruant, and then all headed home to crash after a busy weekend of... well, relaxing.
If you are ever in Japan and want to check out the foreigner cabins, here is a website for the ones in Okayama. I've heard there's some other really excellent locations and I was truly blown away by the experience: http://www.harenet.ne.jp/villa/. I'm gearing up for another week, so hope you have a lovely weekend and stay safe... wherever you are! -b
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 5:46 AM
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