結婚式や海の中道 (Wedding party and Uminonakamichi)

My time in Fukuoka is almost over. Wow, it was hard to try to fit all my stuff in my luggages and even harder to pull them to Nanakuma! My contract in the dormitory ended yesterday and my flight is tomorrow so I had to move to my friend's place for a couple of nights. In between packing and cleaning I still have had new interesting experiences even during these last days.


Last Friday was a long day when I woke up at 5 am to see off the other Finnish exchange student who returned to Finland. At noon we had a farewell party for all the exchange students at the dormitory. Free food, last words, little presents, lots of photos... Soon after the party I needed to get ready for the next party since I had been invited to a wedding here. People I had met at the bilingual church here invited also me even though I have seen them only a few times. Neither the groom nor the bride was Japanese but the whole ceremony was translated in both English and Japanese and the dishes were mostly Japanese style. The place was beautiful, people happy and funny, the atmosphere great and food interesting, and it was great to see everyone still one time before I go back. The only thing thing that almost ruined my evening were my new shoes that hurt my feet so much I had to walk the last kilometer bare feet. Luckily it was dark and I had a long skirt so I don't think anyone even realized that...

In Japanese wedding the gift is usually money
that is given in a special wedding envelope.

Which tableware should I use? Having the chopsticks really confuses...

For the last weekend I had had a plan to go and visit one of my Japanese friends' home near Kumamoto. Nevertheless we cancelled it because of the risk getting stuck there. There was a big typhoon in Kyushu that might have affected on the transportation on Sunday. But I didn't let the typhoon to ruin my weekend. On Saturday afternoon I went to swim for the first time in Japan. I was so surprised after arriving to the beach because even though the weather pretty much perfect to lie on the beach and swim in the sea, there were maybe 10 people on the whole beach. Well, better for us I would say. Also the sun setting behind the islands was absolutely great to see! I had never seen such shadows on the colorful sky.

On Sunday I headed to Uminonakamichi, and island in the Northern Fukuoka, with the friends I had planned to go to Kumamoto with. We wanted to do something fun together before two of us leave Japan. The typhoon never came to Fukuoka but the wind was still quite strong at times. But the island was beautiful and so much fun! There were lots of playgrounds for kids (we did try some), a zoo, flowers, fountains, and a place to watch the sea. One thing it really would have needed more is a restaurants. Having icecream for lunch is not enough when you return back home around 18 o'clock. And one thing I would have needed, was sun lotion. It was quite cloudy but as a white Finn I got sunburnt (for the first time here).

Yesterday evening after dragging all my stuff to my friend's appartement it was time to enjoy karaoke and eat-icecream-as-much-as-you-can for the last time. My Taiwanese friend and her mother (who came to visit Japan) joined me in Futaba and three hours went quickly. It is cool to notice the improvement from the first karaoke time here. I can read the lyrics fast enough to sing even Japanese songs.

I was surprised when they actually had the original Swedish version of "Caramelldansen" in karaoke.
And of course katakanas to help with the correct pronounciation.

Today morning I went to the airport to see off my dear Taiwanese friend. Until today I was able to say goodbye with a big smile to everyone and almost managed to do the same today but couldn't help the tears falling out when watching her to go to the security gate behind the corner. Yes, coming to Asia for exchange surely means I will have a long distance to my friends after the year is over...