Explorations in Fukushima

Something that has disappointed me since coming to Fukushima is that it is a car city. In Tokyo, I can walk or hop a train and feel somehow like every square inch of the city is at my fingertips--it is a heady feeling of freedom! Here in Fukushima, however, things are big enough and spread out enough that it is impossible for me to get some places without a car or extensive walking.

Up to a few days ago, I've been content exploring running paths, areas around the train station, etc., but recent excursions out and about to hand out English school flyers have brought Cindy and I to altogether new places that we sometimes meant to find and other times were not so intentional about finding... :) A sometimes fun and sometimes frustrating fact about Japanese roads in the countryside is that they were, at times, intentionally made in a confusing way to keep visitors out of the area. I am reminded of that anytime it takes me 40min. to get to a place I could have gotten to in 20min. if a straight road would have been present. :) I'm also reminded of that when I turn a corner, run into a dead-end, and have to retrace my steps...

For example, on Saturday, I went to find a path to hike up Mt. Shinobu, which is a rather small mountain in the middle of Fukushima City. After a good hour of steady walking, backtracking, snooping in parking lots and neighborhoods to find railroad crossings, and scaring others around me by looking like a very lost foreigner, I found...a HUGE library, complete with several outdoor pools, and an art museum. :) Not exactly mountain hiking trails, but still a useful find...

After wandering around the library grounds, I found a way up the mountain and was surprised to see houses and apartment buildings all the way up the side. It seemed like a good opportunity, so I pulled a stack of English school flyers from my bag and made my way up and down...and up and down...and up and down the side of the mountain. Here's a shot from the side of the mountain, as I looked out over the city...and me getting slightly sunburned. :)

Again, not the most successful hiking trip in the world. :) But still good! :)

Today being our day off, Cindy and I headed out to the city to escape our very warm apartment and do some Japanese study and ran into...a children's museum, complete with a library, planetarium, play center, laboratory, art room, recording studio, and small auditorium for concerts! The best part was a section of the fourth floor, where a staff member invited us to look around and enjoy ourselves in the educational activity section. Cindy used the opportunity to practice captaining a boat (never let her steer if you want to stay afloat!!) and putting together a mummy (since that's a very useful skill...?). We also learned the Japanese for certain important body parts. :)

Finally, we couldn't resist a few pictures in the bended mirrors...(we do consume rather shocking amounts of chocolate...but trust me, we don't look this short and slightly chubby in reality. And though we do stick out as being fairly tall here compared to some, we don't have quite as long of legs as this pictures shows either...) :)

Good times all around. :) I wonder if next time we head out to find, say, a craft store, we might find a sports center instead...? Or the Indian restaurant that's supposedly lurking in our city...? :) I highly recommend days of exploration on foot...you never know where you'll end up!