Ah vacation

So birthday now being over and having turned twenty four, I feel like I have grown over this trip. I have stayed mostly out of trouble with the adults, by leaving the teenagers alone. I also left the new kid alone. He seemed fairly nice, with just the right amount of fear when I walked in. Apparently I look somewhat intimidating in a pulled down wetsuit dripping wet breathing heavy.

Enough of that though. Could not land the three sixty though. Just could not keep standing up straight. Dad gave Brooke and I the ride of our lives yesterday, he truly was in rare form, slamming that wake as soon as the whip was cracked. There was much skipping along the water and Brooke in the last and most horiffic crash pulled her calf. Thus envoking the family motto: "It can not be that much fun if you can not get hurt doing it."

Back to the real world.

Steady

Through trials and tribulations I remain steady. Yelling and screaming did not deter me from my duty. Saying the words that I came up with even though they were somewhat weakened in feeling thanks to verbal abuse. Remained out of nudging range while standing there just Incase unconsciously I felt the need to strike back. But I just turned it all off, looking at the past, knowing how this will change things, thinking about for and against, but knowing that my mouth is staying shut with the exception of the words that are required of me.

It is a strange thing growing up. Becoming more distant with those that you love, eventually going off and making your own family and seeing those important people at weddings and other important events, except my family.

I guess I thought that nothing would really change, but when I got back I knew that it would never be the same again.

Nagasaki

So Maurice and I get up after some "chess" that involved us going out to a rice field and shooting at cans pack everything that we need to go to Nagasaki and ride our bikes to the train station.
We get to the bank and while Maurice is pulling out the necessary funds for our journey the down pour starts. And by down pour I mean like the heavens are opening up to drown all of the wretched sinners. We had a little bit of time before our train came so we waited outside of the bank. One of the employees came out and gave us some towels, they were actually really nice towels. So we felt like this would be as light as the rain would get so we rode like Lance to the train station, using our backpacks as a rain shield. It was still warm out so we were sweating when we got there and we both looked like drowned rats but we were happy to be on our way.

We had a little time to wait at the train station so Maurice thought that it would be a good idea to document the drown rat imagry.

Yeah, for one thing I need a haircut. Amanda's mom told me that I look good with long hair, I of course have never thought much about how I look since I would not change it if I could. Just like my name, it is the only one that I have and I just don't know any better. So anyway drown rats, the pair of us get on this train to get on a semi bullet train down to Nagasaki. Tried to stay awake for the ride reading and watching the scenery but I was a little bit tired from the three hours of sleep that we got. So we get to the city and while trying to find our hotel the both of us look and smell like we have had a long night. Which we sort of did, kind of. Some of the other ALTs came over to say good bye and good luck. And then the chess started. Anyway on to the story.

Maurice and I roll into the train station being used to comfortable air conditioned train car we walk into the immense heat and humidity of Nagasaki. Hotsewi neh? Moshotsewi neh? Yeah.
So we are sitting in the train station and we are both hungry and thirsty. And what would better fufill both of those cravings than a hot sand drink. Oh and they looked really bad too. So we decided to just stick to water and some bread. Since KFC over here has no idea that fried chicken is supposed to be served with mashed potatoes we had to wait. Until we found a place that had Sasbo burgers. These were the worst burgers that have ever been made. There was no substance to them at all. After eating them it felt like I did not eat anything at all. So the first experience of eating in Nagasaki did not turn out so well but I had high hopes for later. Oh how wrong I was.

Ok time for some content. We found some really nice places, waterfalls and ponds. I love waterfalls there is just something about the way that water falls down rocks into the pond that is just so tranqul.

Just look at this peaceful look that I got. Rocks, koy ponds, nature all around me. Good times.









Outside of a church I found this little guy, He was next to another pond that I found. He let me get right up on him and take his picture. He had an enthralling blue color and black lines. Just so peaceful. He eventually took off but not before flying over to where I was sitting down and telling me that he was glad to share that moment of peace with me. It was peaceful too. Just sitting there in a guarden looking at a bishop and a pond that was fed by a waterfall from a statue from a cathloic saint. But I like this picture the best. Just a nice version of simplicity of the life that I used to lead, and the life that I once again want to find. This dragonfly has that, peace, and existance, truely that is all that a being needs, for conflict only breeds strife. He knew that he was in no danger from me and I knew that I was in no danger from him. He and I were in a state of blissful peace just enjoying the day. Feeling good to be alive.

On our walk through China town Maurice and I were surrounded by suspicious people so we bought our fireworks and told combat chuck here to cover us as we made a brake for our hotel. Unfortunately he didn't make it. But in all retreats the man left behind is usually sacrificed. He knew what it was that he was doing when he signed up. He gave them a hell of a fight. As a side note I realize that it is somewhat strange to be changing from that state of absolute peace to this strange story about some cartoon charecter covering our retreat through violence but I saw this picture and thought that a story was necessary. So anyway on with the story. Members of the chinese triad jumped out of their black lexus with tinted windows, guns out and marching on us. Maurice cought them unawairs because he is tan with dark hair. Apperently they just thought that he was Japanese and would just walk by. He cracked the second man in the chevron of five men advancing on me in the knee snapping it in to two painful pieces. But then they knew that he was not just a bystander, while their attention was briefly on him I called for Chuck. He showed up out of no where and whith a few well placed swings of his "chucks"he had dispsosed of their guns but apparently the only one that didn't know kung fu was the one that Maurice took care of. And apperently the reason why he went down so easily was because he had down syndrome, he was holding an airsoft gun that was not loaded. At first they were just looking to scare us but when Maurice hit the retarded nephew of the Triad's leader in Japan they could not let us go easily now. Which is why I called Chuck. So he was there fighting the four of them still standing and told us that we had our whole lives ahead of us where as his life was over. So we started running down the alley and as we turned the corner I cought another look at the fight and it had been joined by another car full of triad members, as we turned the corner gunshots rang out and that was the last time that we heasitated before reaching the hotel. Ok enough of that.

Here is just something that I found funny. If it is such a lucky taxi then it more than likely would not have had those dents in the side. That and he would have had a person in the cab. But it was just a random photo and I thought that I would include it here.