It's gotten chilly here and the biggest difference is that the houses are not heated and there's much insulation. I miss those old steaming radiators! We're managing to keep warm with our A/C that pumps out hot air and lots of blankets, but I've been told by locals that the best thing is either a dambo (small gas stove heaters) or a kotatsu (a table with a heater inside that you cover with a quilt and cover yourself with). The school offices have dambos and it keeps things pretty toasty with a lingering smell of gas, but most of the classrooms aren't heated and the junior high and high school girls still have to wear skirts through the winter and aren't allowed to wear tights! My buddy working at one of the high schools said that in an assignment he gave out asking students what they'd like to change about their school, the girls answered that they'd like to be able to wear tights or pants!
Despite the chillyness, we've been able to see lots of pretty fall leaves in all kinds of bright colors, red, yellow, green, orange. I really like the Japanese maple tree leaves. While my father was visiting we got to travel around and see new sites. We went to a different part of Kyushu called Saga. It's north of us and it's famous for ceramics art which my dad is involved with.
We stayed overnight in a hostel in the mountains and then head off for the town of Arita. Driving around to new places was a whole other adventure too. None of the highways or roads go straight so there's no north, south, east, west. It's a nightmare! We were all at a loss looking at signs and maps, but we managed to get where we wanted to go.
In Arita, we met this random woman in the ceramics museum who ended up showing us around. She was a volunteer tour guide and had lived in Canada and spoke English. I guess she was excited to practice her English and touring skills with us. She'd grown up in the town and was pretty proud of it so we had a great tour.
We went to this spot where they dug special rocks to make the white ceramic color that Arita invented and is famous for. Their ceramics is a smooth, classic style. We also saw this amazing 1,000 year old tree in the middle of town. They were having a ceramics arts fair that weekend so there were lots of visitors and festivities.
Then we drove up to Karatsu where they have a whole different style of ceramics. It's more earthy and rough and experimental. Though we didn't have too much time to spend there, it was also a beautiful town. We visited the castle there and the view at the top was amazing. Completely surrounded by sea and islands. We watched the sun set and then had a fun dinner with sake in town. The roads back home were once again an adventure, but we got home safe and sound!
