During breakfast, Aki asked if I could give an English lesson to the children – they are all beginners. I had just 30 minutes to pack all my bags and think up a lesson plan. I decided to give them parts of the body, because they probably hadn’t done it yet, some of the words are familiar to them anyway, and because it would allow me to build in some TPR and games.
It was hard to build in games, because I tend to give explanations in English using words I have already taught. Thus, while my objectives were just eight words (hands, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, legs, boys and girls) I found I was using too much language around them (open, close, up, down, stand, sit). As usual, only some of the activities worked. They enjoyed drawing the pictures, and then doing the blind answers – “Close your eyes. Hand, please. What’s this?”
I used my computer afterwards, to type in the information from some of the sheets about the places I’ve been to. Every leaflet weighs a little, and add them all up, it comes to quite a bit. I have to be very weight conscious. It was good to throw away a lot.
The student’s appeared to be talking through some of Aki’s lesson, too. He sometimes got them to repeat presumably vital information five times at high speed. Also, he sang some songs, though only a few of the students made any effort to join in. I was surprised that he sang, because I’d given up with songs beyond grade 5.
Within ten minutes of the end of the last class, we had packed and were on our way. I went in Aki’s car to his home in Ogori, then he took me on to Yamaguchi, dropping me at a small temple complex with a five-storied pagoda.
The couple who picked me up took me all the way to the station in Tsuruno. I didn’t ask for a map, peering just at the large one by the station, and deciding on a few places to go. I made my way to a small roadside gutter by the library, which was filled with carp. Everyone told me this is what Tsuwano was famous for. The water was slightly muddy – probably due to the recent rain, and the irises weren’t in bloom. I can’t control the seasons. To become a real Pro photographer, I’d have to come at the right season in the right weather at the correct time with all the correct props – and then get the photograph perfectly right.
There is a shrine on the mountainside by Tsuwano. It has lots of torii (gates) up to the main part of the shrine. On the way up, I browsed through the postcards in a little shop, with no intention of buying them. The only other thing that seemed to be worth photographing in the town was the steam railway. While I was contemplating where a good angle for the shrine, I heard the unmistakable whistle of a steam train. I rushed to the side to search for the railway line. It was the other side of the valley. I struggled to get the camera set up in time – including changing the battery. The train is still too small in the frame and all one can see is a large dirty cloud of steam and smoke.
I made my way back to the station, buying some bread and cheap corned beef on the way to make a sandwich or three for lunch (at 4.30 p.m.) I’m not very good at keeping regular times, and indeed my stomach rarely complains. Just as I was finishing the last one, the sun appeared, briefly. I packed everything in a rush, and raced (well, walked quickly) to the drainage channel with the fish. Though I waited patiently, the sun didn’t reappear. I walked on, getting a lift to Dannoura Parking Area. I usually stop only at Service Areas because they are more popular at night. The next lift was with a gentleman and his son, travelling back from Tottori, where the son is about to commence university to become a dentist. They took me to Dazaifu itself, pointing out other places on the way. I’m not sure the brain was able to take in much at the time. All the toilets with invalid areas were locked. I went out to a high school bicycle parking area, where there was only one bicycle, and no guards.