Hotel Hamaso Miyazaki

... du so eine Karte mit deiner Nr. drauf (unsere war 88). Also gut wir ziehen uns in den Umkleiden um (wobei die nicht wie bei uns sind... schon geschlechter getrennt aber halt alles offen). Jaja wieder Gespraeche belauscht, ist irgendwie ganz lustig wenn man doch was versteht, zumindest ein bisserl. Dennoch waren wir die einzigen westler dort, dementsprechend wurde auch geschaut, sowas haben wir in den groesseren Staedten noch nie erlebt. Na wir sind ...

... of new friends by the time I left at closing time on Sunday morning as the sun came up. If you are passing through Miyazaki, be sure to pop in for passing through Miyazaki, be sure to pop in for a beer and a meal and a chat with Sean and the local people who frequent this great little taste of home away from home. Here is a link to their homepage too just to check out if you`re interested. www.thebarmiyazaki.com

So what do emergency brakes and a rental car have in common? It turns out you can't set the GPS on the rental car if the emergency brake isn't on. Try to figure out that one when all the instructions are in Japanese!! And then... try to find the emergency brake. When we first rented the little car we got the key turned... engine on.... controls figured out... and then ... whumph... you can't move when the brake is on so ...

The inevitable question, "What does it feel like to be back?" It's a sensory overload to have everyone chattering at you (and each other) in unaccented English. After 9+ months of zero native English speaking people, it's overwhelming to have all the English conversation, radio, TV, newspapers and magazines. Suddenly, I can understand what they want me to buy and I still don't want it. I am surprised though, how non ...

... 42 weeks and 15 countries we have reached the end of our little bicycle adventure. We are flying back to Boulder CO where my aunt and uncle have stored our "not in the storage unit" stuff (thank you!). We will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my family in Wisconsin then packing up the car and driving from Boulder to Seattle where we look forward to getting jobs so we can start saving money to go on another adventure!

... NO traffic at all, most excellent! We had hoped to treat ourselves to another Minshuku experience, but again, progress was slow, as the hills wore us down and as darkness fall fast, we were still short of anything big enough to have a Minshuku, but at least had a lovely camping spot on the beach. The park, I should point out, was so modern, it had a handicap wheelchair access ramp right down into the deep, soft sand by the waves. Go figure. We were in need of a break ...

... were extremely proud to walk me around the factory. Several young Japanese girls were following us around the factory taking pictures and getting us tea and coffee. Needless to say, the male dominated society is different, but I`m enjoying myself! :) I`m exhausted and going out to dinner tonight which probably means more karaoke. Peace.

Unreal is only word I can use to describe the last 2 days. Just a hint: 3 days in Japan = 3 nights of Karaoke! We have been treated like rock stars since the day we arrived. 5-10 Japanese Rotarians are constantly shuffling us around to various sightseeing destinations. In 2 days I have learned how to perform Zen Buddhist Meditation Ceremony complete with punishment, visited ancient burial grounds, toured a Plasma TV factory, walked ...

... at themselves, they point to their nose. After several tense moments of conversation I figured out that everyone was not telling me that I had a big nose, but they were trying to tell me about themselves! My humor is hard to translate here. One of the translators was a fashion designer. I asked her if she could design a shirt that could me lose 10 pounds. She didn't laugh and said she would bring me a shirt later. . . Maybe she can! Have to run!

... guess that a "biggest ferris wheel contained-within-a-park-overlooking-the -ocean in Japan" sign was hanging around somewhere... Speaking of which, I got the train back to Miyazaki after this to visit the Science Museum, home to "the largest planetarium in the world" if you believe the Lonely Planet, or "one of the largest planetariums in the world" if you believe the Miyazaki Guide that I picked up from the Information Desk, or "one of the largest ...