Spider alley soul search’n!

Last time I posted I jumped to the conclusion that my trip was full of little moments that inspired incredible joy within me. This weekend was an overwhelming block of those moments; so much so that it is safe to say this adventure has consumed me. This weekend I started off with the mission of familiarizing myself with my surroundings. Sumiyoshi is the young, hip, and affordable place to go in Nagasaki City. It is overflowing with internet cafes, 100 yen stores, clothing, toys, street vendors (with some of the strangest sweets I’ve ever seen), dried fish and kelp shops, and fresh locally grown fruits and veggie stands. Walking down the streets of Sumiyoshi is a full frontal assault of the pleasure sensors. You walk through a cloud of steam billowing from a basket, and smell the sweet sourish smell of steamed sticky. At the same time you can see the flashing red and yellow sign of the internet café in front of you blinking in time with the shouting of the fruit vendor ten doors up. There was even a puppy store (yes, even the dogs are small here)! Sumiyoshi is about a 15-minute walk from my home stay, and is also where my host brothers and I catch the bus to school.

After exploring the main streets of Sumiyoshi, John-O (a British friend), Daney, and myself decided to explore the back streets of town, and started climbing. After walking past many beautiful little homes and countless views of sardine can housing our journey ended in someone’s back yard. Thus we turned around only to find that the downhill trip would be a little more difficult. There are huge golden yellow, black, and red spiders from hell EVERYWHERE in the back alleys of Nagasaki. Though they don’t seem aggressive or very mobile they spin massive webs. These death snares are spun between the telephone poles of the alleys at just about the six-foot mark. Thus the Japanese seem to have very little reason to fear these arachnidian demons. I would compare our trip down the hill as nerve wracking at best. We hunched over and sped through the trenches under meticulously spun webs that I would have appreciated were it not for their tenants. This was however only a short encounter, and that hill is now known as spider alley. No one goes there. . . EVER!

Today started with a cooling downpour during a breakfast of Texas toast with grape jelly and a fried egg (not very Japanese I know). Then with umbrellas in hand my host brothers and I walked to the Sumiyoshi trolley station, where we met with two new found Japanese friends (Tomo and Asako) and four of our fellow Jasin students. After paying the 100-yen (one dollar) ticket we rode for about half an hour down to Nagasaki harbor. There we decided to go to the small volcanic island of Iojima (not the famous Iwo Jima). Unfortunately we missed the first ferry, but this led to an hour and a half romp/ photo session in the Nagasaki Bay Park and harbor. This park looked out over the Mitsubishi boat yard (the target of the Nagasaki bombing in 1945). Japan does not have an army. They have a “Defense Force” which was in full show at the harbor in the form of four huge battle ships at dock.
Anyway, many many pictures later we boarded the trolley for a wonderful fifteen-minute boat ride to the island. The island was a complete and total joy. Unlike Nagasaki city there were very few people there. We found a beautiful clean beach, rolled the pants legs up, and waded out into the joyously cool water. Some of the more rambunctious guys stripped down to their boxers and went for a swim to escape the still and sticky air. Then after about two hours we headed to the island hot springs. This was to be my first Japanese bath experience, and I had my doubts; hot humid climate meets even hotter natural hot springs? Doesn’t make much sense. . . right? WRONG! It was incredible. The heated salty with a hint of sulfur water was relaxing beyond belief, and actually made the sticky air seem cold. We stayed in the stylish spa for quite a while, and just as the sun started to set we got some cold refreshments and sat in the harbor talking about friends with bad tattoos, exotic meals, and hopes for next weekend. Finally we pulled away from the island of Iojima as the setting sun disappeared behind its mountain and surrounded it with an orange yellow halo. Incredible spas and beaches. . . I must be spending a fortune right?
WRONG AGAIN.
Turns out when you buy your ten-dollar ticket to Iojima you get a free day pass to the hot springs, so everything I did today cost a total of about sixteen dollars.

When you smile or laugh, the world’s problems seem to peel away from you in layers. You give more of yourself to those around you, and smiles come easier than before. It is indeed a different world here, but I’m quickly seeing those around me smile more as we peel more and more layers away. Classes start tomorrow and with them the long awaited arrival of all the Japanese students. Tomo and Asako are wonderfully light hearted and have smiles that take away all the harshness of city life. I’ve posted all of my pictures from this weekend on my Flickr site so to see the full set go to this web page. (sorry havn't figured out how to put them up on this site yet. . . .)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9898906@N04/


Until next time.