While I have stories to tell about last week….plus Easter, I’d much rather write about current events. Ian and I had such a wonderful time yesterday, which was my first official day of Spring Break.
The day started off a little differently. My internal clock normally wakes me up at the same time every day…7:30. However, yesterday I didn’t wake up until 9:30. AWESOME! Plus Ian woke up around the same time as me, and that NEVER happens. We talked to all of our family on Sunday night since it was Easter. The only family that we couldn’t get in touch with was Ian’s aunt and grandfather, Margaret and Bill, so we did that first thing Monday morning. After we finished that conversation, it dawned on us that it was April 1st….April Fool’s Day. Since it was still March 31st in the States, we realized that we had a leg up and could totally prank people without them even realizing it. We quickly hashed together a plan to tell people that I was pregnant. Ian called his dad first to tell him. The first words out of his mouth were “What name do you want to be called as a grandparent?” His dad beat around the bush a bit, saying that he didn’t care that much what grandchildren called him and then asked why Ian was asking. Ian very suspiciously said, “Oh……no reason.” The banter between the boys went on for a while, but Ian finally said, “Would you believe me if I said that Melissa and I were going to have a baby?” His dad said, “No.” (HAHAHAHA! He knows Ian too well!!) “But I would believe Melissa.” I chimed in and said something like, “It’s true! I’m pregnant!” Ian’s dad suddenly got very excited, saying “Oh, that’s great! Congratulations to the both of you! I’m so happy for you!” Ian and I could barely contain our snickers when Ian said, “Hey Dad, what’s the date?” His Dad said, “I don’t know…..March 31st.” Ian said, “Yep, you’re a day late.” Ian’s dad’s reply: “……you asshole.” HAHAHAHAHA! April Fool’s Day!!!
Since Ian had to work Monday night and I had the day off, we decided to head down to Kirishima a little earlier than normal to do some exploring. Every time I come to Kirishima I see a sign for the Uenohara Jomon Woods. I Googled it once to find out that it was an archeological site of an ancient village that had been partially reconstructed. I thought it would be cool to visit, so Ian and I decided to hit it up. We found directions and made our way to the park only to realize that it honestly wasn’t that cool. It was pretty much just a typical run-of-the-mill park. There were the reconstructed huts, but visitors weren’t allowed to go in. Disappoint! We walked around the entire park in less than thirty minutes. Everywhere in the park there were buildings with archeological findings that could have been cool to see……..but each buildings was locked. Bummer! With great disappointment and tails tucked between our legs, we left and returned back to the city.
Since we still had a few hours before Ian had to be at work, I suggested that we go to the beach. The town Ian works in is right on Kagoshima Bay, and we briefly explored the seaside park there one day. On Monday the sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, and we decided that it couldn’t have been a better beach day! We ate our packed lunch at the picnic area along the beach, and Ian decided to climb one of the trees. Silly boy! I asked him if he wanted to go play in the surf with me, but he said that he just wanted to rest in the tree. (It was actually a very nice tree that had a giant fork in which he could recline.)
I walked to the edge of the water. Of course it was still too cold to swim in, and we didn’t even bring bathing suits, but it was nice just to be at the beach. It wasn’t the best beach I’ve been to, but it did have an incredible view. Across the bay was the active volcano island of Sakurajima. Sakurajima is so active that there is nearly a constant cloud of ash coming from it, and the sand at that beach was mostly black. After snapping a few quick pictures, I decided to walk along the beach, one of my absolute favorite things in the world to do. I can NOT emphasize enough how beautiful of a day it was. The golden rays of sun falling onto the perfect rippling waves was gorgeous. I honestly could have walked for miles along the shore, but I eventually reached an area where a river met the ocean, and the water was too deep for me to wade across, so I turned back.
I met Ian on the way back. He had come to find me since I had been gone for so long. Honestly I didn’t know that I was going to be gone for so long. I asked him if he wanted to sit on the beach with me and have a magical moment. (insert awwwwwwwwwwwwww’s) We sat for a while but then decided to play in the water. Ian waded out pretty far and said, “The water’s actually pretty shallow. I bet I could walk all the way to Sakurajima.” Riiiiiiiiiight. Because a bay usually is shallow enough to walk across…….. He then found a flock of birds floating in the water and decided to chase them. The birds heard him coming from a mile away, so Ian didn’t even get close to catching any of them. I wished that we could have stayed for sunset but alas…..Ian had to go to work. I think next Monday night when I go with him, I might return to the beach and have a nice sunset stroll.
While he was at work, I decided to work out at the riverside park. I walked to the beginning of it where there’s an amphitheater. I told myself that I would run up and down the steps, doing four sets of five for a total of twenty and “break” between sets by doing ten push ups, ten squats, fifty jumping jacks, and fifty crunches. Going into it I was so motivated. I got to three and realized that I was going to die. I’m pretty sure that it’s all the food I’ve been ingesting. Since Lent is over and I’m back on sugar, I feel absolutely disgusting. My energy level is lower, and I just couldn’t push myself to make my goal. I did a total of three sets of three before giving up and calling it a night.
Today was a pretty lazy day. I slept in until 9:47. UNHEARD OF!! Normally my silly internal clock is up and at ‘em earlier, but it’s as if it KNOWS that this week is vacation. We had our dentist appointments today, and I’m proud to say that both of us have a healthy mouth full of teeth. Tonight we invited Melissa and Mollee over to plan our Golden Week vacation to Korea. Since our Cambodia/Vietnam vacation fell through, we decided to go to Korea. I was extremely happy with our planning party. We booked tickets on the ferry from Fukuoka to Korea, reserved hotel rooms for all nights, made a schedule for what we want to do and where we want to go, investigated public transportation, and laughed and enjoyed ourselves as we did it. The four of us get along really well, and I’m super excited for this trip! I was really bummed out when our Vietnam/Cambodia trip fell apart, but I feel like Korea is going to be just as much fun!!
(Side note: I’ve been telling people at home that I’m going to Korea, and I get one of two reactions:
1) “Which Korea?” ………..as if North Korea is actually an option….?!?!
2) “Oh, be careful!” I’m not sure if my family was more worried when I said that I was going to the third world countries of Cambodia and Vietnam or industrialized South Korea that is currently being threatened by cray-cray North Korea…..)
Alright….it’s pushing midnight, and I’ve got an 8AM wakeup call. Tomorrow we’re going up to Kumamoto City so that Ian can drop by his office, and then we’re off to Aso to hike. Hurray!
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