9/17/04: Kyushu travels
Greetings from Isahaya!
Hope you are all well. Thanks for the email, we really enjoy hearing everyone's news. Until my ISP clears up some issues, I won't have web site photos ... so here's another text message.
We've had several adventures so far. One of my favorites was hiking Mount Fugen, which overlooks the volcanic Mount Heisei Shinzan which erupted in 1991 and buried part of the town of Shimabara with mud slides. After our hike, we went to Shimabara and saw the houses that have been preserved to illustrate the devastation. The volcano is still active and its steamy hot springs support the town of Unzen's famous resorts.
We have visited Nagasaki twice. The first time we toured Glover Gardens. After ~200 years of isolation, Japan opened it's ports to trade in the 1850s. Foreigners were allowed to live in the city for the first time, but were segregated to the part of town now known as Glover Gardens. The homes we saw were very European in design and were a sharp contrast to Japanese style homes. This mirrors a current trend; the Japanese have been hiring carpenters from Europe and the U.S. to build them Western style homes. Too bad-- Japanese homes are so beautiful!
Our second visit was to the Nagasaki Science Museum. (Bridget refuses to visit the Atomic Bomb Museum, so we'll have to work on that). With the focus on natural disasters, off to the earthquake simulator we went. It was pretty cool. We buckled up, watched video footage from the 1923 Tokyo Earthquake and the 1995 Kobe earthquake and experienced the seismic intensities of the quakes. Whew. There was also a great observatory and we viewed a few bright stars from one of their powerful telescopes.
We've been to a wonderful, interactive zoo and spent a day in Fukuako, the largest city on our island of Kyushu. Fukuako is a major gateway, with an international airport, ferries to South Korea and the hub of the shinkansen (bullet train) that can speed us to other parts of Japan. We were in town for a baseball game and to visit the art museum. The art museum was at the far end of Ohori Park, a lake park modeled after Sai Lake in China. The bird life was impressive and we saw herons, egrets and cormorants hanging out.
Later on we watched the Fukuako Hawks play the Osaka Buffaloes. We got a bento box dinner, and for a snack with beer, Dave and I liked the popular edamame-- pea pods soaked in salt water. You squeeze the pod and pop the peas into your mouth. The Hawks had a bad night and we were seated next to the Osaka Buffalo fan section who were putting on quite a display of support. They had trumpets, drums, noise makers and huge flags and yelled all kinds of chants and song routines whenever their team was at bat. Which was often. It was fun to see their enthusiasm but my hearing is still recovering.
Otherwise, we've been trying to dodge the heat. It's been an unusually hot September with temperatures climbing into the 100s most days. My comparative management class starts in two weeks and I need to work on finding the campus.
More soon,
barbara
Hope you are all well. Thanks for the email, we really enjoy hearing everyone's news. Until my ISP clears up some issues, I won't have web site photos ... so here's another text message.
We've had several adventures so far. One of my favorites was hiking Mount Fugen, which overlooks the volcanic Mount Heisei Shinzan which erupted in 1991 and buried part of the town of Shimabara with mud slides. After our hike, we went to Shimabara and saw the houses that have been preserved to illustrate the devastation. The volcano is still active and its steamy hot springs support the town of Unzen's famous resorts.
We have visited Nagasaki twice. The first time we toured Glover Gardens. After ~200 years of isolation, Japan opened it's ports to trade in the 1850s. Foreigners were allowed to live in the city for the first time, but were segregated to the part of town now known as Glover Gardens. The homes we saw were very European in design and were a sharp contrast to Japanese style homes. This mirrors a current trend; the Japanese have been hiring carpenters from Europe and the U.S. to build them Western style homes. Too bad-- Japanese homes are so beautiful!
Our second visit was to the Nagasaki Science Museum. (Bridget refuses to visit the Atomic Bomb Museum, so we'll have to work on that). With the focus on natural disasters, off to the earthquake simulator we went. It was pretty cool. We buckled up, watched video footage from the 1923 Tokyo Earthquake and the 1995 Kobe earthquake and experienced the seismic intensities of the quakes. Whew. There was also a great observatory and we viewed a few bright stars from one of their powerful telescopes.
We've been to a wonderful, interactive zoo and spent a day in Fukuako, the largest city on our island of Kyushu. Fukuako is a major gateway, with an international airport, ferries to South Korea and the hub of the shinkansen (bullet train) that can speed us to other parts of Japan. We were in town for a baseball game and to visit the art museum. The art museum was at the far end of Ohori Park, a lake park modeled after Sai Lake in China. The bird life was impressive and we saw herons, egrets and cormorants hanging out.
Later on we watched the Fukuako Hawks play the Osaka Buffaloes. We got a bento box dinner, and for a snack with beer, Dave and I liked the popular edamame-- pea pods soaked in salt water. You squeeze the pod and pop the peas into your mouth. The Hawks had a bad night and we were seated next to the Osaka Buffalo fan section who were putting on quite a display of support. They had trumpets, drums, noise makers and huge flags and yelled all kinds of chants and song routines whenever their team was at bat. Which was often. It was fun to see their enthusiasm but my hearing is still recovering.
Otherwise, we've been trying to dodge the heat. It's been an unusually hot September with temperatures climbing into the 100s most days. My comparative management class starts in two weeks and I need to work on finding the campus.
More soon,
barbara
posted by Barbara Meehan Iverson at 3:43 AM
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