My first weekend in Iizuka-shi

My first weekend in Iizuka has been only semi-eventful because I was told by Yano san to relax before starting work and because I've managed to catch a vicious cold thanks to dust from China and pollen from the mountain flowers filling my nose holes (run on sentence?). Other than nursing myself back to health with copious amounts of lemon tea with honey and too many hours of sleep and warm baths, Samantha and I took this opportunity to explore the city a little bit. :) This is the outside of my apartment building. I've been here 2 days now and I've only seen a single other person who lives here. I said hello to her :)

Saturday, we walked to the hospital, only about 10 minutes away from our apartment, and found a few great places nearby including a grocery store, a ramen shop and a bakery (that will be getting a LOT of my money  in the near future - helloooooo cinnamon swirly pastry goodness). We stopped for takoyaki, a Japanese snack that Samantha is fond of. They are little balls of dough typically filled with diced octopus tentacles, smothered in a delicious sauce. It truly was something special!



We also walked across the Onga, a river that runs straight through Iizuka with an excellent jogging/biking path (Samantha and I then agreed to commit to regular work out sessions along the river), and found a 100 yen shop! Amazing! I bought lots of necessities (like a frying pan - I had to make scrambled eggs in a pot that morning). Iizuka is also particularly nice at dusk. The mountains in the background are beautiful and the sunset was captivating.

Sunday was much more relaxed. A little chilly for exploring, we opted for a quick run to a supermarket for miso soup and frozen veggies on sale. Also - I have noticed that regardless of seeing that I am clearly a foreigner, major GAIJIN over here, the Japanese will start full on legit conversations with me....while I stare in confusion. Whether they are saying "Oh hi there, you're amazing for volunteering in a foreign country where you don't understand 5% of the language and you also happen to be astoundingly beautiful" or "You silly little blonde girl - that is definitely not edible, it's cat food." I just smile and make the "I don't understand you" face. One day I will understand and hopefully be able to respond.

Another fun topic; Samantha and I looked for my keys in her apartment today for over 25 minutes, including looking through all the garbage only to find them in my jacket pocket. I swear I'm going to staple them to my face.

So tomorrow starts my first day at the Iizuka hospital, where my second attempt at speaking Japanese in front of the staff will occur. Here we goooo! :)