We have been here on Kyushu for two days and we have done more socializing in two days than what I usually get done in two months.
Just today, we had a good bye get-together for a friend who is returning to Yokohama this evening. Then a former student took us to a famous lantern museum (Edo period) with lunch following at a popular Japanese restaurant.
After that I was taken to the patchwork shop in Tobata where I used to take patchwork lessons. Even my former teacher and another student came for this little reunion. This was again followed by cake and coffee. By then, my companions were too tired to join me on another trip down the road to visit a traditional home fully furnished in Japanese antiques.
Now at 8:50 p.m., we are soon off to our last visit, a friend’s mom right here in Wakamatsu. All the other little stops along the way and making arrangements for tomorrow’s plan go unmentioned.
We have already had many good laughs such as earlier when we got picked up once more. Another engagement, another car to hop into. There have been so many pick-ups that we don’t even pay much attention what car we get into when it is waiting out front. My daughter hopped into the first car in front of the gate, I hopped in right after. The driver turned around and cupped her hand over her mouth. It was not who we had expected, but a complete stranger. I managed a couple of sumimasen and another gomen nasai for good measure. My brother, who had observed everything was doubling over from laughter.
Tomorrow, we are off backpacking and our first stop will be Beppu in northern Kyushu.
On our last night in Seoul, we became really good friends with the national beverage – sochu.
The next morning, we completely overslept. From the time we woke up to the departing flight we had 2:15. We packed in a frenzy, showered in a hurry and hailed the next best cab to the airport (from northern central Seoul to Incheon the fare was 50.500 Won).
It was also snowing quite heavily at that time. Heavy for the month of April, that is.
We made it to the airport, checked in and exchanged our Korean Won into Japanese Yen and then set off running the rest of the way. We were the last ones to board.
It was a turbulent flight due to strong winds. Our pilot made a successful landing on the second approach. We were fortunate to land as we could see some departing flights being cancelled out of Fukuoka Airport.
We were awaited by our dear friends for an uneventful car ride to Kitakyushu.
Japan looks so much greener than the Korean landscape we have just left behind. We are back in the land of the broccoli mountains.
Once we arrive at Fukuoka Airport in Japan, I plan to release the following book The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams and John Underwood.
This book is about American baseball and I have no idea how it found its way into my little library in Germany. The Japanese like baseball, so it might be appreciated.
Travelling Books Japan
If you do find the book, let me know. Chances are 1 : 1.000.000, but that’s the fun part.
With constant news rushing through our lives, earth-shattering disasters, such as the Tsunami on 11 March 2011, somehow get swept under the daily news flood.
But as the anniversary is drawing near, more documentation surfaces. When I noticed the length of the film (58 minutes), I decided to only have a 10-minute peek at it. But I could not stop watching it.
BBC’s documentary film Japan’s Children of the Tsunami features children telling their side of the story. A very sober, yet also heart-wrenching documentation about how life goes on for the 80,000 residents, the ones who had to evacuate to emergency housing outside the exclusion zone.
Children narrate their experience during the Tsunami, how they live today, and what their hopes and dreams are for the future.
Personally, I don’t think there is a chance to move back any time in the near future.
One month from today, I will be in Japan once more. We will be touring the island of Kyushu and this will be my first time to travel as a backpacker via JR Railway Pass.
Kyushu is quite far away from Fukushima (966 km/600 miles), but after watching this documentary, I know the aftermath is far from over.
