after the past several weekends have been spent gallivanting all over this country, getting absolutely no sleep, and returning at an ungodly hour sunday night, i decided i wanted to spend this past weekend relaxing with tamara on sado island, where she lives. it will probably be the last opportunity i get to be able to go there and have a place to stay, a tour guide to drive me around, and show me all the nice sado jaunts. tamara will be going back to canada at the end of july, and laura - the other sado ALT i'm friends with - will be moving to tokyo.
i took the sado kissen ferry over on friday night. it was the usual trying to be inconspicuous while being the only foreigner nestled in with all of the other sado-ites on the carpeted floor where everyone sleeps, plays cards, or drinks beer for the 2.5 hour ferry ride.
we took it easy friday night, got up saturday and spent the day cycling from tamara's town of kanai, through some villages, to the beach/bay of sawada. for lunch we went to the BEST sushi place i've been to since living in japan. a large, locally-owned rotating place which serves only fresh sado fish. the best part? they actually have western sushi like tempura-fied ebi maki and california rolls! i know this is absolutely taboo of me to say but after 2 years of japanese sushi, it's great to have some good ol' north american goodness.
saturday evening we met up with some other ALTs and drove to a small area close to the mountains. this little village is known for it's
hotaru, or firefly viewing. over the next couple of weeks, the little fireflies hatch and fly around the streams and forest in the thousands. by the time we got there the sun was just setting, and we took the 30 minute hike up through the mountain, trying our best to get a photo (not possible). they flew around us, lighting the way up the hill. it was absolutely silent except for the trickle of the stream (and our singing voices on the way back down!) by the time we got to the top and turned around, it was completely pitch black, and we had to make our way back down, trying to stay on the path and not meander into the forest on one side, or the wet rice paddies on the other. it was a beautiful night.
sunday was spent much like saturday - though it started off with a large and delicious pancake breakfast with yoghurt and fruit. afterwards laura, tam and i hopped on our bikes and headed to the beach again. after some lounging in the sun (the weather was incredible), we returned for some more kaiten sushi. as we walked in the door, we were met with a barrade of
welcome!'s, and laughter as it had been tam's fourth time that week.
after yet another amazingly delicious meal, we cycled back to tam's apartment, i packed my bags, got to the port, and said goodbye to sado island.
the day went from a dark, wet and foggy morning, to a wonderfully hot sunny afternoon (note: working on our tans), back to daunting clouds again.
this is how the day started out as we winded up the mountain in the early morning fog to watch the first match. the boys could barely see the ball and we couldn't see them.
