Spring Break across Kyushu!
Spring is in the air!! Winter is fading, and spring is in full force here in Fukuoka! And were we ready for the change! We have been welcoming the warm weather by spending a large majority of our time outside. We enjoyed our first Hanami Festival (the customary viewing of cherry-blossoms blooming) and it truly is a “winter is over, hurray!” change. There are so many large parks around us packed with people playing and picnicing under the cherry blossoms. The cherry blossoms truly are so beautiful. It seems like every tree in Japan is covered in these pretty, pink flowers. Unfortunately though, they only last for a short while, before the blooms flit away and are replaced with lush green leaves.
We have been astounded at how many people are alongside us playing in the parks too. Never would any park be this popular in America except on July 4th. We have found the culture here to be extremely “active” or outdoorsy compared to home. Ever since the weather has been warming up, parks are full of people playing sports or simply relaxing.
We are so happy here, especially compared to our living in Shikoku, let alone the job management there. Yet the life, living conditions, and jobs here are great beyond our belief. We sure do miss some from our early Japan days, but luckily we got the chance to see our Shikoku/GEM School friends this past week though! They came and stayed with us over the Golden Week holiday. We got the week off or work, so we took the opportunity to show them around our new home and road trip around Kyushu island. It was so much fun. We crammed 7 people into our small apartment, which was a tight fit, but we had a great time. They drove out in a big van that Takeshi’s father kindly let us borrow so we got to drive all over Kyushu which was incredibly convenient. We went to a collection of temples in a park called Dazaifu and on our way made a pit stop to the Costco to load up on a hearty supply of tortillas and cheddar cheese. We also got a chance to go down to Nagasaki. Nagasaki is an awesome city! And luckily for us, my new friend Quichia lived in Nagasaki before, so she showed us all of the sights. It has a very unique, international vibe. It even has it’s own Chinatown! Another day we drove to Mount Aso. Aso is an active volcano that people can hike providing the daily levels of ash and gases are under control. We camped on the mountain the night before and then made the hike the next day. Unfortunately, the “hike” was not as rustic as we were hoping for. Since it’s quite a tourist attraction, it was a paved sidewalk the entire way up to the crater. But none-the-less it was the closest to an active volcano I have ever been. The next day, we went to a city called Beppu that is renown for it’s onsens—- Japanese public bathhouses. This is the first time time Tyler and I have been to an onsen (due to the difficultly of having a tattoo)! We went to the oldest bathhouse in Beppu. It was not as fancy or large as the new ones given it’s age. But we still got to enjoy the natural hotsprings. We even watched the Royal wedding in an English pub with a couple of Brits.
It was a great trip! And too sad that they had to leave! They seemed to have a great time on our island!