Day Twenty Three: Okayama and Matsuyama

i'm on the shinkansen that goes to Okayama then south to Shikoku Island.

Shikoku is one of the four main islands that make up Japan, this one was very beautiful, or at least it was from the train.

I had been on the trains for a good six hours before I finally made it to Matsuyama.

a girl named Sara was going to be getting me a room for the night, so I called her and tried to meet up with her at her house. I got lost along the way and ended up walking around in the burning hot sun for an hour before I finally figured out where to go.

Sara was very nice and was quick to introduce me to her retarded cat, Jack, and tell me the story of how he did become retarded. Jack fell down seven stories from the balcony and landed on his head.

that’s how cats become retarded.

I tried to talk to Jack a little, but he wasn’t too up for it. Next I went upstairs and took a little nap while I waited for Sara to prepare to head out for the night.

she was going to meet up with a couple of her friends and party it up like it was goin outta style. they went to the beer garden and got their buzzes on, while I opted to take a different route and met them after they were done.

in the meantime, I did some sightseeing-- just walking around looking at some stuff.

it's difficult sometimes for me to take pictures of these things that I think are so fascinating. regardless of how great and camera is, they can never catch the true splendor of a mountain, the beauty of a lake or the majesty of a castle sitting on the top of a mountain.

sometimes just seeing things and allowing them to become a part of me is the best way I can preserve the beauty of the things I see around me.

we can never know the experiences of others truly unless we go through the same things ourselves. people who have never been to Japan will never understand how much it means to me to talk about the beauty of this country and its people and the kindness I am shown every day.

as I said before, I just have to let some things become a part of my heart and my mind and be happy with that.

I end up doing some karaoke with her friends, Bob from Canada...


and Chris from Scotland.


then I got a shot of me and Sara--yes I was covered in sweat, that’s how intense I get at karaoke in this place.


and then I went back to my room and slept while, of course, thinking about what was to come next.