Around Kyushu

“You live where? How many people live in your village? What do you do out there?”: These are the three questions that people always seem to ask when they first meet me. The answers are: 1. Ubuyama 2. Under 2000 people and falling 3. Many things, but I really enjoy driving. Here are a few … Continue reading »

The rim of the largest caldera in the world, overlooking Aso-machi. If you look closely, you can see steam rising from Aso-san. Sulphuric fumes released from the top of Aso kill a couple of people each year, mostly the old or sick. Recently Aso mountain has been acting a bit “sassy”, and so sometimes you … Continue reading »

I don’t feel any better about the avian flu situation in Kyushu after reading this. Yesterday I was told that poultry farmers in Ubuyama are not allowed to sell eggs or any other chicken products until further notice. This morning, the officials inspected our chicken and came up with nothing, but Kokonoe is not very … Continue reading »

This year’s SARS is Avian Flu. Last year, many JETs were unable to travel to Southeast Asia, and even Australia because everyone’s Board Of Education was scared to death. I was barely able to slip out (turned off my cell phone because Joe warned me that his BOE had forced him and Jason to cancel … Continue reading »

The very next day after I got back from Korea, I made a trip with Kaori-Sensei and her friend Emiko down to Kagoshima. But first we stopped by the city to visit a shogakko student who was in the hospital. Ryusei Nishida is a very good student who is liked by everyone. He’s good at … Continue reading »

I have been going quite frequently as of late. Today, I went with Joe and Azumi to an onsen in Kikuchi. Its too bad that onsens will never catch on in America. Sitting in the sauna helps to sweat out a hangover, and to get rid of all the toxins. You can smell a night’s … Continue reading »

Yesterday I got to hitch along with the Middle School’s fieldtrip to go look at pieces of artwork produced in Oita-ken. After watching a 30 minute video about some old dead Japanese dude of whom the premises were named after, we looked at his sculptures of people, monkeys, and cats (there were so many that … Continue reading »

This is an insect that was found at the peak of Mount Kuju. It was about the size of a large grape, and has the general morphology of a tick. It moved very slowly and didn’t seem bothered at all when picked up. As there were no visible animals at the top of the mountain … Continue reading »

On my way driving to an English Camp on Saturday morning, I was surprised to hear Japanese drums. As I came around a curve, a saw a frightened horse bulldozing his handlers into the heavy traffic. He was clearly terrified by the streaming cars, the dancing participants, and the throbbing drums. I learned that they … Continue reading »

Located only 40 minutes away from my pad is this waterfall. There is a hidden ladder you can climb to access the fogotten campsite, complete with pitfalls, rusty danger signs, and the stench of rotting carcass (no joke). Brought back memories of Stand By Me.