Hotel Plaza 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 ...

I spent a great couple of nights last weekend at THE BAR. Its a bar in Miyazaki above the Pauls Smith Clothes shop not far from the main Miyazaki Station.�@The owner, Sean, from New Zealand has a great little establishment there. Its only been open for less than a year but its the night spot of choice for all the foreign community in town and most of the Japanese people too if the crowd on Friday and Saturday nights ...

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 ...

... it does feel to be back. I though there might be an overwhelming wave of emotion on being back in Boulder or going back to my parents house in Madison for Thanksgiving. But actually, it feels quite nice to be back in familiar places with familiar customs. Unlike our whole trip, I know where the grocery store is and I'm pretty sure I'm not offending anyone by wearing shoes in my parents church. It's good to be home ...

... and got as south as the Cape Toi before having to turn around and head back up to Miyazaki. In Matt and Gretchen style, we got ourselves in over our heads on our way to Beppo which is along the east coast of Kyushu. The hills were bigger then we though and it was raining (which, aside from being a bit unpleasant, slows you down.) Just as we were finishing up our last break, hoping we could squeeze two hours of ...

... town with canals in which they raised carp as a potential food source. The town's population is now about 6,500, but there are about 65,000 carp!! We said hi to the carp, and then climbed up through the 1100 red Shinto gates to the shrine on the hill before heading on for a campsite about 20km away. Now, one would think that after 9 months of being on the road, we would have a good handle on where we are, where we're going, and how long it would take to get there ...

... 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.

... the highest suspension bridge in the world and taken a museum tour. All of this while defiling myself every night trying to keep up with the Japanese tradition of filling your beer, sochu or sake glass before you finish your last. UNREAL. Every bar has a karoke machine that is well used. Tonight, I will perfect the phrase, E Eh Kedo des, which means no-thank you. They don`t take no easily and usually I give in first. More Later.

... 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!

... 20 hours. I noticed that during my trip through customs in Nigoya that the further I moved passed immigration the less English everyone knew. The ticketing ladies knew less than the custom officials, the baggage check-in people knew less than the ticketing people and so on. It finally ended with me nodding my head and forgetting all the Japanese I had learned over the last few months. I guess there is something to be said for stage fright!