Life goes on...

I have been sick the last 4 days. But it gets better now. As I was confined to stay in my Kaikan prison, swimming in my ocean of frustration, I wondered how on earth it could happen that I do not enjoy my stay abroad?! I always thought that I would be the last person to not have fun during a semester abroad! I love going to foreign countries! That is the reason why I put myself through all that trouble to get to Japan in my last semester.

I remember that especially my first weeks in France were packed with so much action and so much fun. Usually the first weeks are the most exciting before the everyday routine starts to kick in. Japan is even a more exotic place than France, so where did all the fun go? If these first weeks are supposed to be the most exciting ones, I will throw myself into the Oita river. It is pretty there by the way.

But I seem to not be the only one who gets goosebumps at the thought of having to stay in Oita on the weekends. My fellow German travellers also got extremely frustrated at the thought of having to stay in Oita, when Fabian and I got sick, jeopardizing our travel plans. Today we actually sat down and made plans to travel as much as we can on the weekends. Oita is a pretty city when the sun is shining, but here is not much to do. One especially feels isolated in the Kaikan.

So on Monday I crept out of my sickbed and could finally join a bunch of people from the Kaikan to go to a festival downtown. It was a "living festival". I do not know what it means, but there were stands, which sold toilets and tombstones. The other 90% of stands sold food. That's were the fun part was. I was so thrilled that day to actually talk to people again, breathe some fresh air, feel the sun shining on my face, and eat some japanese delicacies.


Japanese tombstones

Japanese toilets

I guess the festival takes care of the living and the end of it, too.



Okonomiyaki!

Look who resides under the living again

So much food!





In the evening we went to the Oita river. It was warm, peaceful, and really relaxing. Many of the local people come here to go jogging and exercise. I was too happy to get outside that day to feel bad about not going jogging myself.

It is really pretty out here when the weather is good


Peaceful