I posted before about my summer vacations, and thought that I’d give a little update. Here’s what I had originally written:

  • 8/10 – Go to a BBQ at the lake Go to a game center and go bowling, then take a night bus to Shizuoka (To the southwest of Tokyo, two prefectures away).
  • 8/11-12 – SCUBA Training (Thank you Linda!) I’m finally doing it. I’m cashing in on my graduation gift to finally get my SCUBA certificate. I’ve already taken the written test. Now all I need to do are the dive tests.
  • 8/13 – Surfing. I haven’t decided if I will do this in Shizuoka, Kanagawa, or Chiba, but there will definitely be ocean involved. It was raining, so I took the train home and relaxed and slept a little.
  • 8/14 – Back to Koriyama for a summer festival with some friends.
  • 8/15-17 – More travelling. Maybe to Niigata or Yamagata. They’re close to Fukushima, so it won’t be all that much travelling, but at this point I will have traveled over a quarter of Japan in less than a week. Bad weather killed these plans, so I couldn’t do any of the travelling I had originally planned.
  • 8/18 – Rest before I have to go back to work? I hope so. Extend my visa for another year.

So many of my plans were bust, but not all of them.

I did get to go SCUBA diving, and got my license (well, technically, it will come in a couple weeks). While the weather wasn’t great, it was really fun. I went to Osezaki Beach in Shizuoka. On clear days, you can see Mt. Fuji across Suruga Bay, but since it was very cloudy the whole time I was there, I couldn’t get a good look. I’m hoping to go back on a clear day. I’d really like to see that view.

My friend loaned me his GoPro camera for the dive, and I made a little video for your viewing pleasure:

The quality is pretty bad because of the weather, so sorry about not being able to see anything. I could only see a little more than you can. But I must say, being able to hold an octopus was pretty cool.

I went diving for two days, and then came back to Koriyama on Wednesday where I relaxed at home and did a little bit of cleaning and packing for my summer festival in a very small town.

On Thursday, I went to a tiny town called Domeki to visit a small town festival. They were very happy to see me, as I don’t think they see many gaijin (foreigners) there, and even invited me to drum with them on their traditional drums. Pictures in the Gallery.

And here’s a video of me drumming:

On Friday, I went to Iwaki, and ate sushi and walked around by the ocean.

Yesterday and today (8/17) were just days to relax. Not doing much.

Tomorrow, I’m going to go to the immigration office in Koriyama, so I can extend my stay for another year.

 

Overall, this vacation was fun. I was a little disappointed at the weather, but I did get to do a lot, and I had a lot of fun.

Hope everyone enjoys. I’ll see you soon.