A Change Of Plans

 There's a bus stop at the bottom of this road, the bus goes into the city and one of the train stations. Train stations in larger cities in Japan are like mini shopping malls. 

I haven't visited this station in many years, about 25 years, maybe more. When Mikey was a toddler, I would get on the bus with him and go there. We would look around the stores, and I would usually buy him a little toy. I remember there was a little bookstore that would have English magazines, like Reader's Digest or Time Magazine, and I would treat myself to a copy. If I didn't have to rush back, we would go to McDonald's and get a snack. I enjoyed doing that.  It felt normal when most of my life felt abnormal, dealing with a completely different culture and language.  It was something I would have done if we lived in the UK.

Unfortunately, the area around the train station became run down. I think the final blow for the stores there was the building of a massive shopping mall in 2003. Slowly, the stores, even the larger ones, closed down.

When I accepted that moving here was inevitable, I started to look at what is in this area. I knew it would be easy for me just to stay in the house and do nothing. Because I can't drive, I needed places that I could get to on the bus. I came across a video about this train station, it's been totally revitalized! I was surprised to see how good it looks. Not only in the station but the area surrounding it has changed, new stores have come in, including Diaso and Don Quijote, a fantastic discount store!

I planned to get on the bus this afternoon, just go and have a look round. But I haven't been sleeping very well this week, maybe one hour in 24 hours. Even with the sleeping tablets, I only slept 4 hours! So even though I really wanted to go, I decided against it. Maybe after next week, according to my weather app, next week is going to be extremely hot, over 35 °C for 6 days!

But I did want to get out, so this evening, just before sunset, Christopher and I went for a walk around the area. 

It wasn't easy, but it felt good to get out.

I love how quiet it is and the light!

I think this is a Jizo; they usually have red hats, but he has a yellow one.

There's a small park up the road, but it looks overgrown.

On the way back, we found some chickens.

Chickens, but they smelt bad!

Growing beer?

On the way back, we passed our land. Every time I see it, I feel overwhelmed. It really is too much to deal with! 

We really need a lot of money to get this cleared. The problem is that this is only 2 of 16 pieces!

A Bit Worried

 The news has been tracking three typhoons near Japan for the past few days. Fortunately, none of them are on course to come here, but it's got me a bit worried!

The reason I'm worried has to do with all the trash and other items that are still outside or under the storage roof. There are a lot of things that can go flying if the wind picks up.

This is a little video I took this morning.

As you can see, so much of that stuff is light enough to become airborne if a typhoon hits!

I managed to tidy up some of it this morning. I got Christopher to help. I basically moved what I could further into the storage place at the side. I know the best is the throw out all the plastic things, but disposing of plastic is very hard. There's a city incinerator that we can take it to, and we should get that done as soon as possible, but we need some one with an ID for this city. David has the form to change the address on his license, but he has to go to the police station, which is on the other side of the city. 

I'll try and get more done tomorrow morning. If I go out early enough, between 5am and 6am, I can actually work. The more I get done before 8am, the better. The heat has finally begun. 

This morning we had a small earthquake, maybe a one here. The epicenter was in Nagasaki. Hannah was in class when it happened. She said it felt long and rather strong! 

I always ask my students which they prefer, a typhoon or an earthquake. Most say a typhoon. Although I would prefer to avoid any natural disasters, I find typhoons are easier to deal with. Especially with the latest technology that allows you to track the typhoon, you have time to prepare. Also, with a typhoon, you can see when it will hit and when it will leave your area. Earthquakes just happen, and there is no way to predict if the quake is just a one-off or the start of a series of quakes!

It's HOT

 Until this week, the weather hasn't been too bad!

It's been hot, but not the scorching, humid weather that I associate with summer in Japan.  Even today, the humidity was still rather low, about 50%, usually it can get up to 80%

Yesterday was the first day that I felt sick because of the heat! On Tuesday and Wednesday, I have to go back to the other city to do some English lessons. Usually I'm alright with this, I go from my room which has air conditioning in, to the car, with air conditioning to the community center, again with air conditioning. 

But the air conditioning in the car isn't really working! On the long stretches of road, when we don't have to stop for lights, it works okay, but in the city, where there are a lot of lights, it stops working! Of course, yesterday, even the two long roads that we usually whiz down were busy, and the traffic was slow, hence no air conditioner and a very hot, melting lady!

I was surprised to see that even Hokaido was hot, one city recorded temperatures of 40C. That is crazy, Hokaido is known for it's mild summers, temperatures usually range from 14C to 24C.

I think summer has really started!

I'm always very careful to avoid heatstroke. I drink as much as possible, either water or some kind of sports drink. Recently, I've started to buy salt candies, I don't know how much they help. I stay in the air conditioning and keep fans on in the rooms that don't have air conditioners. We are surrounded by trees and bushes which really help to keep the house a bit cooler. I complain that the roof comes down too low over the windows. In the winter, the rooms are too cold because there is no sun in the rooms at all, but at this time of year, it does help to keep the rooms a bit cooler! I like to have the windows open so any bit of breeze can get in!

I'm still trying to get outside a bit every day, even just a stroll around the garden helps me. I want to get out early to try and pull weeds or tidy up a bit. This week I haven't had the energy to do that, but I hope to do some over the weekend. 

The cats are suffering the heat but they find cool places to sleep. I make sure there is fresh water for them in different places around the house, but they all seem to prefer my water!

Fred is drinking my water!

Silver Centers

 I posted a short video of my garden on Instagram.

This is the video.

As you can see, it is rather overgrown, and I'm feeling overwhelmed!

One person on Instagram suggested I call the Silver Center to see if they can help.

I had forgotten about this resource and think it's a good idea, once this heat has finished.

Silver Centers were first established in 1975.  There are now 1,300 centers across Japan.

The centers offer employment opportunities for retirees who want to stay active, give back to the community, and earn a little extra money.

The jobs are light, including gardening, helping with housework, and office work, among others.

Japan has an ageing population; a lot are single, either never married, divorced, or widowed. As they age, friends and relatives start to pass away or leave the area. It must be lonely for a lot of these people.

Giving them the chance to do a bit of work is a way to help them keep active, to make new friends and give something back to their community.

We would have to pay a few thousand yen for them to come and help in the yard. But a lot cheaper than hiring a professional company to help!

Looking at that video, I wonder if doing our garden is light work! 

Marine Day

 Today is a national holiday, Marine Day.

This holiday started in 1941 as Marine Memorial Day to commemorate Emperor Meiji's 1876 voyage on the steamship Meiji Maru. It became a national holiday in 1996, when it was renamed Marine Day. From 2003, the holiday has been on the 3rd Monday in July, to create a long weekend.

This is also the start of summer holidays for most schools, so a lot of families take off for a day or two at the beach.

When my kids were little would go to a beach for a day. Unlike beaches in the UK, there are very few amenities at the beaches we visited. In the UK, most beach towns would have amusement parks, game arcades, cafes and restaurants, plus theaters. 

I was so shocked by my first visit to the beach here. There was nothing, a place to sit, which was basically an open-sided hut with tatami mats that you could rent for the day. There were changing rooms and showers. But no shops, game arcades or amusement parks! 

I realized that in Japan, at least in northern Kyushu, you go to the beach to enjoy the sea. In the UK, the weather is usually bad, so other entertainment is needed.

I like the idea of a day to celebrate the sea. Japan relies heavily on the sea for food and trade. 

The sea is something we need to appreciate more and take care of better!

Typical beach in northern Kyushu

One reason I like this photo is the fact that the lady has left her bags on the table while she went to paddle in the sea with her kids. I don't know if you can see, but she left everything, including her purse. She had enough confidence in the safety of Japan to leave her stuff and go paddling. I know that wouldn't work in the UK. This was a few years ago, just after the pandemic, so maybe not that many people about, but still!

Change of subject! I'm trying to figure out how to add a Ko-Fi button! It's a donation service. Our money situation is dire, and I need to do something. 

 I have no idea what I'm doing. I've made a Ko-Fi page, but I'm having problems with the link. 

Maybe by the next post I'll have it working!!

Why?

 I've just spent over an hour trying to make a simple alphabet worksheet.

I asked Gemini, Google's AI, to create one. It was okay, but I didn't like the formatting; the letters were too small and close together.

So I took the basic idea and tried to make something myself.

But it's ended in me feeling totally frustrated and fed up. 

I asked Hannah about making lines that are used a lot in the notebooks for English here in Japan. Which is basically 3 lines, then a red line, which the letters sit on, and a blue line to show where the letters that have a tail finish. 

She found what I wanted in a couple of minutes using Google Slides! I had spent the best part of an hour on Google Docs, swearing at my computer because I couldn't get it right!

Lesson learned, ask Hannah!. 

She has to make a lot of PowerPoint presentations for university. She studied how to do that in high school, and it has really helped her a lot!

Today wasn't such a good day. It's very hot, according to my weather app, this week is going to be very hot. I keep getting excessive heat warnings! The only good thing is that the humidity is still low, which really helps. But I've gotten to the last half of July without feeling like I'm going to die from the heat, so that's good! Let's hope that after this week the temperatures will be a little bit more normal. I've enjoyed the couple of walks I've had and really want to explore this area a bit more. I'm actually looking at Google Maps to see what is near here to walk to!

Last evening's sunset

We had incredible thunderstorms yesterday afternoon. When they had moved on, the sunset was very beautiful. 

Also, I didn't need the air conditioner last night, I even had to turn the fan off at about 3am as I felt a bit cold. Nice!

The only problem was the noise from beneath my window. I had the window open, and I could hear some kind of animal moving around. I think it was a wild hog, as I could hear grunting!

The fun of living in the countryside of Japan!

A Walk In The Rain

 After I finished writing yesterday, I really wanted to go for a walk.

After having that lovely walk with Hannah the other week, I've been wanting to go out more, just to see this area and enjoy the nature.

Yesterday was cool as it had been raining on and off all day, for me, that is good walking weather.

I asked Christopher to go with me. We headed out, but as soon as we got to the road, it started to rain. I thought about turning back, but we had umbrellas and the rain wasn't that heavy!

I'd seen a tori gate, which is the entrance to a shrine that I wanted to check out. I had an idea that we could get to the shrine from a back road, instead of walking along the main road. So off we went on a little adventure!

These signs are everywhere, marking out a walking course in this area.

We walked along this road for a while. It was nice and quiet, a chance to see nature.

These might be persimmons.

Big field of sunflowers

We couldn't find the shrine, but we found an old burial mound, built in the year 600!

Just a short video of the burial mound.

This is the big tree that is growing over the burial mound.

Beautiful, majestic tree

Christopher had my phone to take photos and video, I should have known he would take one of me. Not flattering at all but this is how I look. 

The fat foreigner

It has given me more incentive to try and lose weight!

On the way back, we came across these plants. Again, I have no idea what they are, but I love this color.

The color didn't show up very well, but it's a very light, smoky green.

We headed back the way we came. I think I walked about 1 kilometer, it was hard but I felt very good after!