it's not life that matters but the journey...

see the little cloud over the cat's head (mood)?  yes, that cloud is there today.  but luckily yesterday was fine.

Yesterday, Masahiko took a break from his work and we went for a drive.  The weather was warm and sunny, and the rain didn't start until we almost got all the way back home at 4 in the afternoon.  We headed out at around 11 and stopped for lunch at McDonald's.  it tastes just as good in Japan as in the states, except that the Coke was way too sweet (yes, I did say to my family that I wouldn't be eating any more McDonald's after watching "Supersize Me" - but sometimes nothing can substitute for the good old Golden Arches!) 

So, with our lunch and our nice weather, we got on the road.  It was nice to get out of the house and see some new sights.  We had intended to go to the beach in the western part of the Izu Peninsula; but Masahiko took a wrong turn, which put us on a road that climbed into the mountains and gave us spectacular views of the ocean and the green hills.  It was an excessively windy and treacherous road that skirts the Izu Peninsula, with the driving lanes barely big enough for one car, but meant for two.  Masahiko handled the narrow curves beautifully, but I was a bit nervous (I don’t think I could drive here!).  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a camera (I am meaning to buy a digital one), but we did get a couple of shots from his mobile phone.  Now I need to get organized and figure out how to get pictures put online.  Anyway, we didn’t get to the beach, but the scenery was gorgeous, and we felt like we might have been in Vietnam with the lush green hills and tiny villages.  One of these seemed to have only about 25 houses, surrounded by rice fields.  It was so peaceful, and all we could hear were the birds. We drove and drove looking for a bathroom and a place to buy snacks.  We finally found a little fishing village called Heda, which had one convenience store, one grocery store, and lots of fishing boats.  There we stopped for snacks and headed back towards home, stopping to see the vista again.  Once you get out of the highly populated, ugly cities of Japan, its fun to see these unexplored, untouched parts of the country that feel as if time stood still.  They are lacking the ugly electrical wires and the high rise buildings, and the noisy “pachinko” parlors that are so prominent in even the smallest cities.   In case you haven’t had the privilege to experience it, “pachinko” is the national pastime in Japan, noisy arcade-like parlors full of machines at which mostly older people gamble away their money and eat up their time.  Of course you can make money at pachinko, just like at any type of gambling venue, but I don’t know how people can stand the noise.  Just come to Japan sometime and you will see – and hear – for yourself!

We are currently contemplating whether a move to a big city like Tokyo or Osaka would be better for us.  Though we came to Japan because we can live rent-free with his parents, neither of us realized just how hard it would be to live in such an isolated place.  In a city, I could easily get a full time job plus students to tutor, and he could more easily meet musicians and get work.  It might be something for us to consider . . . before we return to the states in the future.

I looked and looked at the signs while we were driving yesterday, but didn’t see any strange English.  There is an American style restaurant called “Gusto” and I’m not sure of the meaning there; and there is a “Lemon” gas station.  Not so interesting.  But here is something, written on the little notebook I bought to study Japanese:  “This notebook is excellent quality and royal to learn.  Put pen to this paper.”  And that’s what I’m doing!