There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.

- Robert Louis Stevenson -

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.

The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then, he sits down a lot of the time.

- Colette -

The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor.

 - Unknown -

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

- Marcel Proust -