雪!!

Kikugawa was a beautiful sight yesterday morning. Unfortunately I got no photos of the morning snow in town because I left at 7am and things were still very dark. I was suprised and happy that the bus arrived on time. Little did I know the fiasco that would occur after this. To make a long and complaining story short, I spent 3 hours on the bus with only one kleenex to nurse my running nose and desperately needing to relieve my bladder. I was in communication with my supervisor about being late. When I was still on the bus after my one and only class for the day had begun, he said, "Please go to the school." I got to the school 2 hours late, and the teacher said, "Your class has already finished." I said, "Yes, I know. But I was told to come here anyway. Can't I join another class?" She looked at me like I was nuts and replied, "No, sorry. Would you like something hot to drink?" I said, "So I should just go back." And she gave me a crooked, affirmative smile. I emailed my supervisor and said, "I finally arrived to the school. The teachers say they don't need me." "Please come to the office," he replied. Gesh, I wanted to scream. So I was only in the school a total of 10 minutes, which was just enough time to get my coat off, put on slippers, use the restroom, talk to the teacher, get my coat back on, change shoes, and leave.

On the bright side, I was in one of the oldest, most beautiful areas of Shimonoseki, so I took a few minutes to snap some photos and walk by a shrine on my way back to the bus stop.






In front of the office.

This was a learning experience. Things I did right: I wore a long-john shirt and pants; I had a small folding umbrella; I packed an emergency peanut butter sandwich; my cell phone was fully charges; I had a lot of money on my bus card. Things I wish I would have done: brough an extra pair of socks with me (my feet got soaking wet); had a book with me; brough more than one kleenex; worn proper shoes; charged my iPod.