My speech contest kid rocks–with prompting, she was able to recite her speech from memory! She doesn’t have it down yet–this was just a test to see if she could do it–but she’s progressing so quickly. I’m really proud of her. Rock on, Chisa!
Tatami Timeshare also rocks–I sent out my e-mails last night and got 2 offers for places to stay, and advice about how to go east from Unzen, instead of having to go west to Nagasaki and then north and east again. Thankfully, at least some of the people in last year’s are still here this year. It’s crazy–I’ll be there in three weeks! I’m so excited about this.
The latest itinerary:
Wednesday, September 13: head up to Imabari after dinner, nap at the train station (heh)
Thursday, September 14: catch the westbound ferry from Imabari at 1 AM, arrive in Oita in northeastern Kyushu at 6 AM, head southwest to spend the day in Aso and Kusasenri, have dinner southwest of there in Kumamoto (there’s supposed to be an Indian restaurant there) and spend the night south of there
Friday, September 15: travel south to Kirishima, do some hiking there, head on south and either crash in Kirishima-shi with a TTSer or in Kagoshima-shi
Saturday, September 16: visit Sakurajima, catch 4 hours’ worth of trains north and west to Nagasaki, spend the afternoon/evening there
Sunday, September 17: travel east to Unzen, catch a ferry to Kumamoto Prefecture…hopefully find my way back to a train line and head east to spend the afternoon/evening in Beppu and/or Yufuin, possibly spend the night with a TTSer in Beppu
Monday, September 18: (holiday!) catch an early ferry from Beppu to Matsuyama, spend some time there, find the Indian restaurant I’ve heard about, then head back to Ikeda
At least one ALT had expressed interest in tagging along for at least part of it…but right now, I’m really not sure it’ll work out. It’s such a fast-paced trip that it’d just be far easier to go alone. I could take nenkyuu Wednesday and spread it out a bit, but I’d rather not use that, especially this early into the year.
I’m also thinking about winter break already–it’s early, but if I want to travel internationally I have to book my tickets really soon to get a good deal. I want to go home…but I just don’t know for sure yet. Dad’s encouraging me to make the most of my paid leave and where I currently am and do some traveling on this side of the world, which is honestly sounding tempting now…but I really want to see my friends as well. I don’t find myself leaning one way more so than another, though.