Technical Difficulties...

I wanted to post photos to give you all an idea of what my life in Fukuoka looks like, but I am having problems with space on my hard drive. I bought a fancy new device from the fancy Apple Store downtown, but it's not doing what I thought it would do, at least not at the moment. The good news is I now have wireless internet in my apartment. Hurrah! I imagine I will be addicted to the internet, and thus this blog, for awhile until I have more friends...

Yes, the huge, car-alarm buzzing bugs are indeed cicadas! Kudos to everyone who correctly identified these creatures from my last post!

I have lots of stories to tell, and am sorry I cannot illustrate them with photos at the moment. Stay tuned...

So I did get to watch the Olympics opening ceremonies the other night, while eating take-out sushi (unfortunately not-so-good) and drinking a Kirin beer (unfortunately put me to sleep for parts of the show) in my apartment. Impressive fireworks, eh? I loved hearing the names of the countries as the athletes entered the stadium (first in French, then English, then Chinese) especially when the country name sounded the same yet hilariously different with each pronunciation. Since Friday night I've turned on the TV once to watch some of the actual sports part of the Olympics, and caught a Japanese swimmer winning his 100-meter breaststroke race.

On Saturday I joined some teachers and the new head of school for a trip out to the island, Nokonoshima. Lori, another new teacher, lives there in a house on the beach. I saw one of her giant spider friends and felt relieved I do not have that problem (yet...). We all took a bus to the top of the island where for ten bucks you can walk around a garden/park. There was a petting zoo and apparently in November the blooming cosmos attract visitors from all over Japan. I guess I'll have to go back in the fall because the postcards were lovely!

On the ferry back to the city some old men gave me a popsicle and then showed much embarrassment when their drunk friend proceeded to harass us all the way back to Fukuoka. It was the first time here that I felt singled out for being foreign. Mostly people ignore me.

Upon returning to the city, we went to Tenjin, the downtown area that has earned Fukuoka the reputation as "best shopping city," according to Monocle, an international magazine for rich people. It felt more like downtown Manhattan (okay, maybe a bit smaller) than my neighborhood, which is called Muromi. We went to the Apple Store and I was talked into buying a much fancier router than I had intended, but which is currently not letting me do what I want, hence the lack of photos in this post. Then we went to inquire about the Iphone, which has recently come to Japan. We found a big crazy electronics store and waited for an English translator. Here is what I learned about the iphone and cellphones in Japan in general:

1. Calls before 9pm are free, but after 9pm they cost almost 50 cents a minute!!!!!
2. Calls before 9pm are only free if they are to phones within the same network. There are at least 4 major cell phone companies!
3. Cell phone salespeople can be very tricky, even with a translator. They don't mention the details above unless you ask them very specifically.
4. The iphone costs about $80 a month with a 2 year contract. That includes the phone, internet use and voice minutes, but with the same restrictions listed above.

I don't think I'm getting an iphone. This is really a bummer because several times a day I find myself wishing I could look something up on google or wikipedia. I need immediate answers! But right now the questions is, which cell phone will I get? I will wait and ask the computer teacher at school, who has lived here for 4 years and is very helpful with such technical inquiries.

After our electronics adventures, Linda (the head of school), Lori (new teacher living on the island), and I went to an izakaya place for beers. We had to order some food, too, so we got these skewers with green onions wrapped in bacon. Mmmm. Then we sampled the shopping by checking out a used clothing store. They only sold used designer clothing, so we found shirts for $300! Whoa. Then we walked along the main street and picked a yatai place to eat at. Oh yeah, so izakaya means it serves Japanese pub fare, and yatai is the name for the food stalls that open up around 7 by the train station and along one of the rivers. We picked one that served ramen. Mmmm. Fukuoka is known for it's pork-bone-broth ramen. Stay tuned for photos...

Today was a much slower day. I cleaned my apartment and waited for the internet guy to arrive. My friend Lori came first and was helpful with the internet guy because she speaks some Japanese. She has not figured out yet how to get the internet on the island so she was thrilled that I had it and we spent the afternoon catching up on email, getting to know each other, and trying to solve this major dilemma we both face: Obon.

Obon is a major Japanese holiday commemorating the ancestors. It's a bit like Thanksgiving, I think, when families get together. It happens in August because that's when the dragonflies are out and dragonflies, of course, are the spirits of the ancestors. So apparently everything shuts down for the next three days. Now, I was warned of this by the staff at the school. No problem, I thought, because I plan to travel somewhere and tourist facilities are open during the holiday. In fact, many Japanese families at this time, too, so it is one of the busiest travel times of the year. Offices and banks are closed, which I didn't think would affect me, but here is what I've learned: Japanese ATMs do not accept foreign cards. Only the ATMs at the post office do that. Okay, no prob, you think. But not only is the post office closed during Obon, the ATM outside the post office is closed, too. So I have no way to get money. Japanese businesses do not take credit cards, unless they are big fancy shops like the Apple Store. Japan is a cash society. They may have the fastest internet in the world, but not all Japanese customs are technologically advanced. That's right. Cash only. And the ATM is closed. I have about 20,000 yen, or roughly $200, to last the week. And that is definitely not enough to travel. The trains are expensive! Hotels are expensive! Food is expensive! Everything is, well, expensive.

Cash only.

Shit.

So I guess I'm stuck at home eating ramen for the next few days. I can always watch the Olympics. Or read. Or ride my bike all over town. That's what I plan to do tomorrow. Obon isn't so bad, actually. And apparently I can get cash on Thursday so I can take a long weekend trip. Next week I'm still offically not working the school has some meetings and events planned for me. Hmm. Stay tuned for more details...