A Chilled Out Weekend

For quite possibly the first time since getting to Japan, this weekend felt like a chilled out weekend, just doing weekend things, rather than it feeling like exploring an unknown land or whatever. Having said that, I did manage to get to Kompira-san on Shikoku on saturday, see a live football match for the first time (hurrah!), plus, most importantly of all, I now have two turtles!

So first let me introduce my new pets- the brown guy's called Atsu, he thinks he's a bit of a smart-ass, and has already been a bit rude to my green guy, Kitabeppu. Kitabeppu's a bit quieter, and more thoughtful. He's named after a Hiroshima Carps player, who is apparently 'slow but accurate' in his pitching; Kagawa-sensei thus thought it would be a good name for my turtle. He spends his time sitting on the bottom of the tank, thinking. Though at the moment, theyre both asleep by the water purifier.

On Saturday me Meghan and Carrie went to Kompira-san in Kotohira, on Shikoku. It's a really nice place- a beautiful climb and fine views from the top over the flatlands of inner Shikoku. I think we'd have got the Shikoku 'feel' of being less developed, if it wasn't for the throngs of tourists that come to Kotohira. I found a cute cat on the way down, which made my day. That evening we went for a meal then I watched Man U beat Wigan 3-1, before getting home just in time to listen to the Blues lose 3-2 to some crap team we should have beaten. Grrrrr.

Sunday I spent getting the turtles, then me, Kagawa-sensei and his two year old son went for udon, and went to a beach between Kojima and Uno. His son is really sweet, and helped choose my turtles. The beach was absolutely beautiful, and there was a geat view of the Seto-Ohashi bridge. It reminded me again of how lucky I am to live on the Inland Sea, I never get tired of staring out at it. In fact the day I get tired of that view, I think, is the day I should come home