Upheaval in the Heavens

The last two days have been overflowing (no pun intended) with heavenly phenomena.

 

Yesterday, I awoke to heavy rains, and lightning. Never seen lightning like that before in Japan… and the rain was so heavy that the flooding seemed to start almost immediately. But it just kept raining! Nearly all day, absolute downpours… The grocery store in Hirao has a very large parking lot, and it was completely under water. The rivers were full and many of them were overflowing. As were the streets and some homes. Unfortunately, landslides are a problem here when we have heavy rains. I heard reports of a nursing home being hit by a landslide, and several people inside were buried alive. I didn’t see the news report, though, because my television only shows snow when it rains. Ironic, huh?

 

Today, on the lighter side, was the heavily talked about solar eclipse. It’s interesting that the characters for eclipse in Japanese are ‘eating the sun’… I wonder if there is some secondary meaning that I’m not aware of. Anyway, the solar eclipse happened about 11am here in Yamaguchi, and it was just as cloudy and overcast as could be. I thought there was no way we’d see it… but the English students went outside to take a look and I could hear them all get excited. So I too went outside to check it out and sure enough, you could see it pretty well! Someone brought safety glasses and we all took turns J I used my camera too… and I think the only reason it worked was because it was cloudy! J Anyway… fun times and everyone was excited!

Regrets

Stank!
I just did a little internet search on my new best friend (see previous post), and found out that his mother died less than 2 weeks ago.

Now I feel bad about my little parody... :(

My New Best Friend...

The other day I was at Nijigaoka for our classes, when a little before dinner the phone rings.
It's the Mayor.

Oh. Hello. Thanks for calling.

Mr. Mayor got right down to business... He was calling Mr. Luethy (who happens to be in America for 6 months) to have him look over a speech that Mr. Mayor would be giving in English to an iternational audience the following day.

Apparently, given Mr. Luethy's absense, just any old foreigner would do.

So, within minutes, Mr. Mayor was at my doorstep, secretary in tow.
A half hour later, we had a pretty good speech, and one very happy Mr. Mayor.

Naturally, I invited him to our BBQ Sunday night...

Ah, gotta run, phone's ringing... maybe it's the governor this time...

Unexpected Visitor

So I am sitting here on my couch, having just finished dinner, watching the news. The windows are all open, as is the front door - it was pretty hot today, and I don't think the humidity could possibly be any higher. But this afternoon the wind really picked up, and we've had a good, strong breeze ever since... makes the weather bearable. Anyway, that's why the front door is open, to let that blessed breeze make it's way through my home instead of just around it.
So here I am, minding my business and watching the news, when, much to my surprise, there is a cat in the room! First I think it's cute, then I think, "It's not mine!" but it sure is in my house... So I stand up and it heads for the door. It doesn't look like a stray, so I bend down to try to 'make friends' with my new visitor... but then it takes off. A short friendship that was! Wish I had a picture for you...
This visitor is welcome to come back anytime - unlike the spiders and lizards that have been seeking domicile here recently... But I don't think it will - I could hear its bell ring as it ran off... it's already got a home. :)

Yamaguchi FlowerLand

Several weeks ago I went to this garden for the first time. It's called Yamaguchi FlowerLand, and it's a pretty nice place. They really put a lot of work into decorating the gardens with whatever happens to be in season at the time. So here are some of the pictures I took.



The neat thing is that they have a library there, too... and air-conditioned library! So, even though I haven't taken full advantage of it yet, I plan to use it more and more as a good place to study as the summer heats up.

There of course has been plenty of other stuff happening too... just no time to sit down and write about it. English classes have been keeping us very busy... but I'm thankful for a little rest this week.

Take 2...

*This was the text that was supposed to come before those pictures from the other day...*


If you had 12 hours to do whatever you wanted, what would it be?
I took a vacation day today and went touring all over Yamaguchi prefecture. I basically did a fly-by of all the places here that I had yet to visit. Twelve hours and 400 kilometers later, I was back home, exhausted. But it was mentally relaxing; just what I was looking for.
Of the 12 hours, probably 8 of them were spent on the motorcycle... that's enough to wear you out! The weather was amazing... I couldn't have ordered it an better. Forgot my sunblock though - but long sleeves and a helmet nearly all day, the burn is minimal. Unfortunately I was about 2 days too late, because all the cherry blossoms had basically fallen to the ground. Early in the morning, though, as I was driving through the woods, they were falling all around me... that made for a pleasant ride! I also hit a bird - never thought that would happen on a motorcycle! And after dark something hit me in the chest, I think it was trying to knock me off the bike ;) It felt big, but I couldn't see it because I was looking into headlights, and it didn't leave any evidence behind... so that one remains a mystery.
So I started off heading up through the mountains to the northern coast, to Hagi and Nagato, on the way to Tsunoshima. Tsunoshima is this amazingly beautiful island off the northwest corner of Yamaguchi prefecture. The bridge across to it is fantastic! After about 3 hours wandering around the island, I headed in the direction of home, by a different route. I came upon Akiyoshidai on the way, which is a vast (for Japan) area of rolling hills covered with small rock formations. Wonderful roads to enjoy on the bike!
One of the best things about the day was that I didn't plan it all out ahead of time. I took a map, but I didn't use it... even though it was my first time going to all these places, I know he geography of Yamaguchi pretty well, so I just relied on the road signs to point me from one town to the next (very few roads here have names or numbers)... because I didn't have to be anywhere specific at any time, it was actually a lot of fun. And I got to see a lot more than if I had mapped it all out to take the fastest route...
I'll leave you with some pictures... then I'm off to bed!

You've Got 12 hours...

The pictures call for explanation...
Here's the beautiful bridge leading to Tsunoshima.










Some random flowers...










You woudn't ever expect to see this in Japan, would you?










Hold your horses... it's actually a bathroom! It used to be a wedding chapel, and was even used in a movie a while ago. It's quite a sight, even if it is a public restroom!










And the lighthouse... made of stone.










Don't forget to dry your seaweed well, or else it might not taste good...










Look at all those windmills! Crazy! (We've got 7 here in Hirao)...










And Akiyoshidai, with the rolling hills.