Jackie's Chalkboard says 14

That's right, we're at two weeks exactly. In fact, in two weeks exactly from this moment we'll be flying out of Seoul, on our way two San Francisco. Hooray!

But, that doesn't mean there aren't important things to do here first...things to be enjoyed for the last time, good-bye parties with friends, visiting the last few things that deserve to be seen before leaving Fukuoka, etc. One thing I'm particularly looking forward to is finding the big Buddha in the woods in a town near here. There's supposedly a giant Buddha, and I'm gonna find him.

Another thing that's especially "Hakata" is a big upcoming festival, named Yamakasa. Basically, it's celebrants are large groups of men who run through the streets of Hakata carrying great big "floats," called "kakiyama." Here's a picture of a "kazariyama," or a float specially made for display. These don't actually get carried around in the parade, but are very similar. They're made with images of samurai, anime characters, etc. Very colorful!

However, the floats really aren't the most interesting thing about this festival. A couple things make it much more interesting: 1) it takes place at 4:30 in the morning, and 2) none of the men are wearing pants. They only wear a sumo-like diaper-loincloth thing, with their butt-cheeks hanging out. They chant crazy things while they're carrying their 1-ton float, grunting rhythmically while they show off their strength. I'm not sure how Jackie talked me into going into this thing, but I do believe it's one of those things I'll really be glad I did. (and that banner under the float, which says "2016" is our city's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. It's a long shot, I believe, but can't blame them for trying! Maybe we'll come back and visit then.)

And here are a few pics from my last day at my main elementary school. It was a nice day, full of "Arigatou Jeremy Sensei Sayonara Party." The kids danced and sang for me, gave me a Japanese quiz, played lots of games like dodgeball, etc. We found one little boy on the floor at the end of one party, literally sobbing because he was so sad I was leaving. How touching! What a tender little guy!






Thanks for reading!