Asian Vacation, part 5

Our adventures in Shimonoseki and Yamaguchi are somewhat out of order chronologically because we spent time there both before and after Kyoto.

So, our first time arriving in Shimonoseki consisted of waking up on the overnight train from Tokyo and transferring about 500 times until we finally made it on to the right train, going the right direction and speed! A friend of Matt's boss met us at the train station. Her name was Keshi and she greeted us with hugs, a huge smile, and great English- all of which were welcome by this stage of our journey. Keshi drove us to Beth's school and toured us around the gorgeous campus, then dropped us off at Matt and Beth's apartment where we promptly showered and slept slept slept.

Matt and Beth got home from work and the four of us went to an incredible traditional Japanese dinner in downtown Shimonoseki. The restaurant is owned by parents of a friend, and they seated us in a private room with tatami mats. Matt and Beth ordered (in Japanese) sashimi, fried chicken (really big in Japan), beer, fried octopus, and a couple other local specialties. YUM! Even though I was still sick at this point the food tasted amazing.

The next day we decided I needed to go see a doctor. A few phone calls later we were headed to the doctor's office with one translator, and another on the way. Going to the doctor in Japan is the best. They asked a couple questions, didn't touch me at all, and wrote three prescriptions. Then we walked next door, picked up the prescriptions and were on our way!

From the doctor's office we walked across the street to get to the bust stop and went down to the pier and fish market. We wandered around the vendors' stalls and ate some sushi on the boardwalk. Very Seattle, actually. After lunch Keshi picked us up again and drove us to her home in Chofu, a town that neighbors Shimonoseki. She had baked us an apple cake and served it with ice cream, coffee, and tea. More yum. After cake she drove us to a Samurai house in Chofu. Chofu is a really cute little town with lots of traditional houses and cobblestone streets. The Samurai house also had a beautiful garden out back, and Keshi showed us a little bit of how to participate in a tea ceremony. The following day we left for Kyoto.

My second time in Shimonoseki was after Kyoto, and when Josh had gone north to Tokyo to work. I trained down to Fukuoka to meet Beth and Matt, and walked out of the train station into a mall and huge, covered plaza with Christmas lights, a Christmas tree, and a band playing. Pretty awesome. We walked through a shopping area and found a restaurant that looked good, and although they spoke exactly no English, Matt was a great translator and we got the food we wanted. After dinner we decided it was time for bubble tea; I got hot chocolate with "bubbles" in it (now I'm craving it, so delicious).

Matt and Beth had to work the next day so I went grocery shopping- so fun and much easier than expected. That afternoon Matt met me at the apartment, we went to his school across the street, and I got to participate in the English club he leads! The topic of conversation was holiday traditions and travel, and Matt and I ended up trying to explain egg nog to the students.... "It's like yellow milk, but made out of eggs". EW! If only they could just taste some I'm sure their opinions would change...

The next couple days Beth and Matt had to go to Yamaguchi for a JET conference so I tagged along one of the days. I listened to Matt's presentation, went to lunch with some other teachers and ate super good ramen, then hopped on the local train to explore Yamaguchi City for the afternoon. Beth recommended a nice, quiet plaza with a coffee shop so I got a table outside for a couple hours to people watch and read a book. It was quite lovely. After some more meandering I got back on the train, met up with Beth and Matt, and we headed back to their apartment to watch the Last Samurai (what else?).

We had another day in Shimonoseki before it was time for me to go to Tokyo so we rented Love Actually, walked around the city, went to the mall, went to the beautifully designed library, went to an opening party at some restaurants including a wine and cheese bar, and ate more sushi. I had a great time in Shimonoseki- the city was really pretty, I got to spend a lot of time with Beth and Matt, and we had plenty of time to just hang out together.

Next up, Tokyo!