Alright, I was a little slow with this update (especially since I just got internets!), but I have a reason, which I'll get to in the end. But first off, this weekend I joined a group of folks to go to Fukuoka, Japan! And yes, it was rad. We left early Saturday morning (which meant staying up all of Friday night, though I did cheat and sneak in an hour nap) on a ferry from the Busan port. The trip was 3 hours across open ocean, which is bizarre for me as an American to think about, but I can't say much about the actual ride because we were all passed out. We got in and took our first steps onto foreign soil. Watch out, Japan!

The crew consisted of Dan my training buddy, Maya our friend from the same teaching branch, John that we met from another branch, and Swan who I only just met for the trip. John had been there before, but for the rest of us, it was our maiden voyage. We first walked most of the way up to the local to secure housing, but to our surprise (!) there was no room! So we reserved rooms for the next day and wandered around looking for another hotel to spend a night. We ended up getting 2 doubles and I snuck in so as not to have to buy another room. Of course, with 2 girls and 3 guys, that meant sharing a little tiny room between the biggest of the group. It worked out pretty well, as we walked around during the first day checking out temples and parks, then we ended up going out to a club until pretty late and passed out watching a shitty made-for-tv movie about a plane hijacking. The next day, we went shopping for a bit and found a cool Manga/Anime/Geek store with cool little toy vending machines for like a buck a pop with all sorts of silly Japanese things on them. Then we secured rooms at the hostel, which were singles and, thus, far superior, and spent a well-needed break drinking beers outside the hotel and chatting for a couple hours.

On Sunday night we decided to check out a bath house, since Fukuoka was well-known for them. We took the subway out towards the airport and ended up at this place called Manyou no yo, which is apparently one of the better known. Now, a few things to note on bath houses: First, in case you didn't know, they're big places with a bunch of heated pools and saunas and such, all communal and same sex, and of course you're in there naked. Second, Japanese culture at the same time accepts and despises tattoos, and when you're at a place with a bunch of people and you're naked, there isn't a whole lot you can do to hide them. So Dan and I both have tats, which we were assured by the guy at the front desk of the hostel that they would be fine, but as soon as we get there and get into the washing area, a couple of guys approach each of us and ask us to leave. One just tells me it's ok if I cover mine with a towel, and John manages to fast talk the other guy into letting Dan stay since it's his first time. Dan's tats are far more extensive than mine, and he's Korean to boot, so it's a much harder time for him. But we manage to stick around for a little while, jump around a few pools (including one that was ice cold!) and finally sit down in a sauna before another guy comes and says "You have to leave. People (or his boss, I wasn't exactly clear on it) are complaining". So that was that, we put on some robes and wandered around for a while before the girls met up with us and we took off. Not a terrible experience, but not one I was really hoping for. We spent the rest of the night at a couple of bars and ended up meeting a few foreigners and chatting and dancing till the wee hours of the morning. Then we got up at 7 am and headed down to the ferry to catch our ride home so we could teach later that day! Whoopie!

The food was pretty great. Our first meal while hotel shopping was at a little counter place with ramen, and it was far superior to any ramen I had ever had before. I usually hate the stuff, but it totally turned me around. We ate some sushi later that nite after a stop at an Irish pub, which was pretty bizarre in a totally foreign land. The sushi was fantastic, and we got huge servings of fish that put regular sushi back in the states to shame. We sat at the bar and got the chef's special, and he was a pretty cool guy and threw in some extra sashimi later on. He also put on a cool lil show and was pretty welcoming, especially when Maya started shouting along every time the chefs did. I think they asked her to come back and work with them. For desert, we walked over to a little bakery and had soft cream in little cups with fruit and green tea ice cream, and it was good. We had some tonkatsu at a shady little place in the shopping area that was pretty great as an early lunch on Sunday, and then some udon with tempura and all sorts of deliciousness for dinner before going to the bath house. It was pretty damn good for Japanese cuisine, and I even got to brush up on my extremely rusty speaking skills!

Now comes the bad part: The extreme lack of rest finally took its toll on me Monday night, when first my throat gave out and then the rest of my body followed. I came down with a nasty little bug that I'm just getting over now, but since I was told that getting a substitute was a bitch, I just went ahead and worked last night anyways (and ended up spending a little time at a birthday party. Yeah, I guess I reap what I sow). Ah well, all in all, it was totally worth it. And now, the pictures! Take care, all!

Fukuoka