Accident Update

For those of you who are interested, or who have been following the car drama, there have been some developments. Surprisingly, mostly for the good this time!
Last week, I was called into the office of the head of the Oita Board of Education, for a meeting over this whole debacle. I went with my vice-principal, who has been pretty helpful and patient throughout this whole thing, even though we have a pretty hard time chatting, what with her speaking no English and me speaking only elementary Japanese. Luckily, the BOE guy does speak English, and translated everything.
First, they had to give me a warning about driving in Japan. This was pretty much expected on my part, and despite the fact that I've already been through enough hassle about this, I was pretty good about not letting my annoyance show.
Then, they proceeded to casually mention the following stupendously amazing fact: the other woman, who was threatening to financially ruin me by making me cover her hospital payments up front, decided out of the blue, a week ago, to take care of them herself. No one had mentioned this to me, so I was flabbergasted for a second, and then had to really restrain myself from jumping up and down. This pretty much solves my financial problems, after December anyway. I still have a few payments to make on the car, but they're manageable.
The only other glitch that has arisen from this mess (like I needed another) is that I now have to go to driving school. Feel free to laugh, because it is completely ridiculous. Also, to someone who has driven for 11 years with a previously perfect driving record, and who has obviously learned his lesson from this ordeal, this is the most insulting thing they could have possibly pushed on me at this point. ESPECIALLY since I have to pay a pretty hefty sum just for the *priviledge* of wasting a day being lectured. Oh yes, and I have to use a vacation day for this as well. I am fighting the urge to kill. Afterwards, at least, the whole ordeal should be over and done with.
So anyway, despite the financial reprieve, I still won't be making it home for Christmas, which is really a bitch. My plans, as they stand now, are to go to Korea for Christmas instead. It's closer, cheaper, and both my cousin and sister will be there. Should be fun, even though I do miss the Canada crowd so, SO MUCH! I just hope between now and then there will be no invasions from the North, because lemme tell ya, nothing ruins Christmas faster than a lunatic with nukes and a million-man army.
The possibility of me coming home for Golden Week (late April) is now in the air too - I hold out hope my cash flow will allow for it. Otherwise, I'll probably hang around Asia a little while longer, and see you all next August, when I plan to say goodbye to Japan.

The Fab Four

So I've mentioned my friends on here before, but since the last picture I posted of Victoria met with her disapproval, I have been ordered to post another. Also, this one has Mark in it, who I spoke about but have never shown. Here is a picture taken on the first leg of our tour in Thailand, as we wandered through Bangkok. From left to right it's Victoria, me, LeeSean and Mark. Vic is the crazy-fun girl from the UK, LeeSean (from Arizona) has been mentioned a thousand times on here and was my closest friend the first year of my stay, and Mark, a fellow Canadian, is also a fellow martial artist and a really nice guy. They've all left Japan now, but we'll always have Thailand! Soon I'll try to post a few pics of my new crop of friends, but these guys will always have a special place in my heart for helping to make my first year here one of the best I could have ever hoped for. (Cue sappy sentimental music, fade to black.)

Best Swimmin' Hole in Kyushu...

Ok, so I admit it - I've been lazy lately. To make up for it I'm doing 3 posts today. This shot is from about two months ago, when LeeSean, Tash, a few other friends and I went to a waterfall near Ajimu. It's up in the mountains about a half-hour to the west, and under the waterfall (which falls a spectacular 150 feet, the highest in Kyushu) there's a pool, as you can see. Much to the amusement of the locals, we stripped down to our trunks and dove in to beat the heat, which in July and August is like Calcutta, with about 200% humidity. This was one of the prettiest spots I've seen around here.

Temples, Temples and more Temples

Well, if you haven't heard enough about Nara already, let me fill in a bit more about my trip there in August. A while back I posted a picture with the giant Buddha, but wasn't able to show you the equally impressive temple (Todaiji) that it sits in. I just happened to have a spiffy shot of it that was begging to be published, so here it is. It was MASSIVE!

Beppu's Famous Hot Springs

So I live in a town called Beppu, which is in Oita prefecture, on the eastern side of the southern island of Kyushu. It's claim to fame is its many hot springs (or onsen). It has so many, in fact, that I believe it holds the worldwide record for the most in one place. There's some you can take a dip in (usually one in every neighborhood here) and then there are some that are too hot to go bathing in but are still damned impressive, like the one in the picture. This was taken last year at about this time, and this particular hot spring is just up the hill from my house. It's called Umijigoku, or the "Sea Hell", because of it's color.