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.

being sick is no fun

It's only a cold, but it's still no fun. I spent most of the day in bed... or rather on the couch, since I don't actually have a bed. It's not that bad, but the stuffy head and just overall yuckiness continues. I shouldn't complain - this is the first time I've gotten sick in the nearly two and a half years since I've come to Japan! For that I'm very thankful. I'm dreading the first time it's so bad that I need to go to the doctor though! :)

Traffic Lights and such...

So here in Japan there are definitely some things you have to be aware of when driving. Most importantly, drive on the left side of the road. I've only messed up on that once. It's easier than you'd think, actually, because the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car (versus an American car) and so the driver is still nearest the center of the road. So for the most part it's pretty natural. The hardest part to remember is which side of the car to get it! (I'm serious about that).

But there's other stuff too - crazy stuff. Like traffic lights. You know how there are left turn green arrows in America? Well, here there are (remember, opposite side) sometimes right turn arrows. Occasionally there are left turn arrows as well, because there's no allowance for a 'right on red' here (or 'left on red' as it would be). And infrequently there are green arrows pointing straight ahead, indicating the obvious; you can go straight, but you can't turn. Well, all this to say that twice now in Japan I have come to a traffic light with arrows pointing left, right and forward, with all of them green at the same time. What is that all about?!!? Isn't that just a regular green light? I wish I had taken a picture. I thought traffic signals were supposed to direct, not confuse...

And the custom of stopping at a stop light is different here, too. First, the Japanese seem to think that as long as you can enter the intersection within 5 seconds of the light turning red, then it's all good. They just don't stop for the red lights. Maybe they are colorblind and can't see yellow or something, I don't know. Craziest one yet - the other day I was driving on a road with just one lane in each direction, with two cars in front of me. The light changed as we approached and the first car stopped. The second car didn't - he gunned it and flew around the stooped car through opposing traffic just to get through the (already) red light. Keep it mind, it's not like the first car slammed on the brakes or anything... This was bold, even by Japanese standards.


So, when you come to Japan, be careful if you plan to actually stop when a light turns red; you might get hit in the tail.


On a brighter note, the Japanese (when they stop) they ALWAYS stop at the white line... never cross it. Never. They've got the Americans beat on that one!


The other day I went to Oshima (the largest island belonging to Yamaguchi prefecture). Here are some pictures from that...

Tigers?? No...

So my brother Skyped me last night and said my nephew Drew wanted to ask me a question.
The question... Do you have tigers in Japan? :)
He was apparently suddenly overcome with fear that I was going to be eaten by a tiger! How cute.
So he asked what kind of animals we have in Japan. And of course I said, "We've got big, scary tigers!" :) He said to his daddy, "See, I told you!!" and was jumping all over the room. So cute.
Seriously though, of course we don't have tigers. We do have monkeys though, which are apparently pretty dangerous. I've only seen them a couple of times, and not near my home, though I've heard they are around. They'll steal your food and anything shiny (like a camera)... so it's better just to stay clear. I've heard though that you are pretty likely to see them if you head up certain mountain roads.
So of course, I can't wait for the weather to warm up a little and take my bike up into the mountains! Surely I can outrun them if they start throwing rocks at me, right??

The Countryside...

Hirao really is country. I feel it the most when we venture to pass out fliers. Here in Japan, unlike America, it is legal to place advertisements in mailboxes. In fact, it's not abnormal to open the front door and just leave your paper sitting there on the floor! We try to stick to the mailboxes though :) Right now we are preparing to start some new English classes at the church in March, and so in addition to the ad we put in the paper, we're distributing flyers around the neighborhood.
There are 13,000 people in all of Hirao. Small, but not super small. Still, we have no train station, which is basically the marker of whether you are in the 'bush' or not. But here's the deal - and it's noticable when passing out fliers, because - there really aren't any neighborhoods. It's a house here and a house there, and one way over there. It makes passing out fliers pretty difficult. And tiring. Thankfully I am finally familiar enough with the area and all the little roads that I don't have to do too much backtracking to see if there's a house at the end of 'that' street or not... it's taken some time though. When you go out for several hours and only pass out a couple of hundred fliers, it's easy to get discouraged!
But we worked on it today, and will go back out tomorrow in the morning... before the rain comes in the afternoon. We should have a little time left next week, too. But even if just one person comes because of the fliers, it's worth it. We're praying for a bunch though - the more the better! Have to wait and see...