I'm living in the City of Marugame, Shikoku, which is more like a big town. It's got everything you could want but is surrounded by rice paddies, some dotted around the houses too. At the moment its planting season and legions of old women can be seen bent over in the nasty looking run off water which comprises the paddies, surrounded by slimy algae with lots of CO2 mixed in for good effect. They wash the rice here thoroughly! I'm so looking forward to the luminecent lushness of a couple of months to come. Young rice, so pretty.
Marugame means Circle Turtle. An odd name to be sure. I can guess t
hat it refers to the circle of tu\rtles that surrounds the castle, but it would only be a guess. Yes, you read right. I'm living one minute away from a castle. One of twelve remaining Edo style castles in Japan, or something like that. The castle itself is a replica, and only the size of a small house, but the walls climb a hill that imposes itself over the whole town. Last week I climbed to the top and took some photos of the surrounding area. To be posted soon, just getting them put on CD. The Castle is also surrounded by a real live moat, teeming with real live turtles, swans, carp, cranes, ducks and these funny little bobbing diving birds that I've never seen before, maybe because of their timidity. The grounds around the castle boast a couple of amazing gates, a dodgy zoo and some beautiful park land and trees. Perfect for running around in the mornings before it gets too hot and mushiatsui.
Mushiatsui is my word of the week. Sensei taught it to me and it means humid. The perfect example of onomatopaia. Atsui means hot in Japanese, so you have mushy hotness: humidity. I love it! I've finally embarked on my dream of learning a martial art. I wanted to learn Shorinji Kempo, which has its international headquarters in the next town, Tadotsu, and is all zen and spiritual and idealistic. But Tyler, the teacher I'm replacing, took me along to his Karate class to check out and I'm loving it. Three hours, twice a week of full contact sweat and pain. Its hardcore, very focused and the guys there are really nice. More so than sailing, when in class I'm totally focussed and nothing else matters.
Tyler took me for a drive up the coast last week and its absolutely beautiful. Old style villages, dramatic mountains, its so . . . Japanese. That sounds kinda dumb I realise, but after my time in Korea I'm suprised at how "authentic" things look. There are rice paddies, vending machines and the houses l;ook old style, have proper Japanese style gardens with trees poodle polished into strange shapes that look like a caligraphy painting!
When Tyler goes in a couple of weeks I get his car, so I can get to class on Saturdays. That will be awesome though I'll miss him a lot. Camping stuff is really cheap here, as are some clothes. $50 for a pair of Carhartt shorts, but over $200 for a pair of Levis. Go figure, not that most people reading this would care anyway! But, I'm gonna get me some camping gear and go check out this island in my copious free time.Right now I'm off for a swim. Nettie, my boss, paid for the first couple of months of a gym membership for me. They have nice equipment, but most importantly, a really nice pool that almost always empty. I've been doing laps almost everyday and then soaking in the attached Onsen, japanese style bath.
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