11/27 Fukuoka, part 1

The morning in Fukuoka was as different from the night before as, well, day from night!  The Christmas party was in progress the night before with Santas (not a nativity scene in sight) and a whole range of Christmas carols.  The day broke and sun shone again, so what to do on  the U.S. Thanksgiving Day in Japan??  We headed for the beach! We knew we had a radio promotion spot to do about 11:30 that morning, so a subway ride took us part way to our destination.  

The subways in Japan are clean, safe, close by and almost always on time.  

The maze feeling you have as the escalators, stairways and tunnels go off

 in six different directions is not unlike any subway system in which the information is almost always in another language.  You look at the map, look at the schedule and the signs on the wall, put the money you think you need in the ticket machine, head for the gate, wait for the train and get

 on.  Then you watch the display and hope you’re heading toward rather than away from your intended destination.  With Mike, Mark and Pat leading the way, us newcomers to Japan fared very well.

We headed out into the sun again and walked down a road by a little canal or inlet and eventually crossed over a bridge with wonderful railing designs.  Pat said the designs were filled with athletes--swimmers, runners and others.  

It took some of us a little longer to catch on, 

but look we did and there they were.  (By the way, since I can't download our pictures until I get home, thanks to Pat Pearson for all these photos--our tour photographer!)

Turning right at the end of the bridge took us past the Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome, and down to the beach.  Many things are well-defined and organized in Japan, including the shoreline when viewed from above, so it was good to see at least a little bit of unmanaged water and beach.  It was lovely, warm sand and pretty warm water too.  Yes, kids, I touched another ocean for you!

Down the beach a ways, talking and picking up shells, we headed inland once again, now on the other side of the domed stadium, home of the Fukuoka Soft Bank Hawks baseball team.  Some interesting art displays with gloves and hands and a new “monster” friend for Deb, our own monster mama.

The dome was closed today, so on into the atrium of the JAL hotel where the group has stayed on some previous visit.  Great atrium facing out on the water and beautiful plants--so much attention to natural, growing things here, even if they are kept just so, never out of control.  

Once outside it was on a bus--then off (seemed like too much money just to ride to the subway station when we could walk) and off we trekked--and trekked.  The subway process repeated in reverse, a walk back to the hotel, and another memory was successfully created.  Just in time for our interview.  Every day, new adventures of many kinds.  

More to come.