A gap in time...

As though I'd been abducted by aliens, I have returned and seem to have no proof of the past month in Japan!


.....or, I can't seem to find photos past the last couple of weeks. I shall seek them out and post them verily. Until then, I'll just update with what I've got.

Last weekend, a bunch of us from in and around Sasebo forayed down to a harbour/park area, where you can enjoy an aquarium, dine at lovely boardwalk restaurants, and take tours in pirate or colonial themed ships. We did none of those things. We hoveled around a bbq pit, and cooked seafood while sipping beer. Yes. We are high society. WHO ROCK.

It was a beautiful, if slightly cool day when we all headed down there, all of us hoping to sup upon the sea's finest offerings! We weren't however, sure the Oyster Festival was still going on, and when we first approached we wondered if the oysters caking the side of the pier was going to be about as close as we got to enjoying them.



Lucky for us though, when we rounded the corner of shops and restaurants blocking our view, the festival was in full swing! It was less a 'festival' and more a 'sit and gorge', but it was still a fun site to see. Rows of high tents were set up to shield us from any weather from above, and countless small bbqs with teeny tiny stools were lined up for us to sit around and cook at. They weren't pits so much as cinder-blocks, into which we would dump hot coals provided by some young guys working at the festival, and a grate to put on top and cook our seafood on. There were a number of food stalls set up where you could buy meat other than oysters to cook - pork, beef, chicken - all neatly skewered. There were these little pieces of cheese wrapped in bacon that after cooking, were a tasty of fatty heaven. Those were definetly a favourite of us poor, cheese-starved souls.

Since there were only so many teeny tiny stools at each cinderblock, and we didn't want to crowd around just one, we split into two groups. At my pit there was Nicola, Claire (both who enjoyed pretending to be old Japanese men while fanning the fire), Kate Meyer, and Bonnie. At the other was Hitoshi, Ben, Ryo, and Alex. Later James, Brent and Jenny would appear to make a third, but they were tardy. Tsk tsk, sooo tardy.



The oysters were sold from one stall, a kilogram for about 600￥ (roughly $6), along with gloves and a small knife to wedge them open. It was my first time eating oysters actually, even though I'm a big seafood fan, and I wasn't sure what to expect. Shortly after I posed for the camera in this cheesy fashion seen here, I ate that oyster, and proceded to suck my face in on itself. I had NOT been expecting it to be so salty, but after a few moments I decided they were actually really tasty! I am officially a fan of oysters. ...even when they sorta looked I was about to ingest Oyster poop (seen left).


So we all hung out there for a food few hours, chatting and munching, it was a great time. Around four or so the festival started to finish and so eventually we too packed up and headed out with full bellies and a bit more sun on our faces. ^^ Those are all the photos I have that you guys haven't seen! Well, all but two.




My school is being repainted. Yes, soon it will be a delightfully NEW shade of pink. For at least two weeks construction workers/painters would come and do no form of painting, but set up scaffolding to encompass the ENTIRE, SCHOOL. It is now the UGLIEST thing on the block. Ta daaaa!



This last one never fails to make me laugh. There is a store close to my school that has HUGE billboards with pictures of white people laughing and enjoy their lives pasted on them. Its...odd. Odder still is THIS little doozy. At first you think awww, what a sweet image, what an attractive couple! Then, if you pause to study the woman's face, you wonder...THAT was the best image they could use?! That is one DOPEY looking bride. When one eye is drooping you gotta wonder just what she took to calm her pre-wedding jitters. Bad Botox, maybe?

Welps that's it, sorry for the long wait, but I finally got this to work on my computer at school. WEE HOO!

Much love, thanks for visiting!

~Kate 'I'm stealing this idea from Hitoshi' Willey