Upon arrival, the first thing I noticed was the green vegetation everywhere. The mountains looked very similar to Korea only more lush and lively. The mountains outside of the airport in Fukuoka are topped with three large enchanting torii that are silhouetted in the fog at the mountains peak. It's quite beautiful and really conveys why Japanese paintings look the way they do.
After waiting an hour for my entrance permit into Japan, I hopped on the subway and headed towards Tojinmachi to find the Korean consulate. I didn't really have directions so I got pretty lost. All I knew was the consulate was about 10 minutes away from the subway. Getting lost was the best thing ever! I wandered around a little neighborhood of shops, houses, schools, and temples. The area was so clean and beautiful. Every house and building had it's own elaborate garden of flowers and trees. People passed by on bicycles commuting to wherever. There seemed to be a Buddhist temple around every corner. Each temple had it's own character and different types of shrines. Just being in the area lifted me up, it has to be impossible to be unhappy in a place like this.
One of the most impressive things I noticed was the elaborate attention to detail in every aspect of the city. I rarely saw any litter on the streets and almost everything was relatively clean. All the plants and trees are delicately pruned and recycling is promoted on most of the waste bins. The city is quiet except for the sounds of low emission vehicles and the spinning wheels of commuters on bicycles. The people in Fukuoka are so polite and very kind, I asked for directions at a local rice cake shop and the lady at the counter was able to give me decent directions in English. I didn't have time to learn any Japanese before I came, so I just bowed and said thank you.
Most of the Japanese I've encountered in Japan were able to speak decent English and/or Korean so communication was fairly easy. My favorite thing about Japanese is that everyone replies with "hai!" (bow) "hai!" (bow). I could get used to a country where "yes" seems to be the most commonly used word.
The Korean consulate is located next to Yahoo! Stadium home of the Softbank Hawks (Fukuoka's baseball team). The team was actually there doing a signing... but I was too much in a hurry to find the consulate before they closed for lunch :(
At the consulate, I met a few other foreigners that were also doing visa runs. It was comforting to know that I wasn't the only one.
Afterwards, I decided to continue walking around Tojinmachi. I walked down a tightly packed back road that had numerous houses and temples. I stopped by one temple that had a beautiful sand and rock garden and a few whimsical shrines. When I walked out I was approached by two westerners on bicycles. They were outfitted like adventure cyclists. I think they could tell I was a foreigner right away and wanted to say hello. We chatted for a while. Both the cyclists were from the Netherlands. They both had very different stories though. One man had been cycling through Japan for two months. I think he started in northern Japan and is making his way to the south, The other man started in the Netherlands and is making his way down to Australia! He had been cycling for one year and has southeast Asia and quite a bit of island hopping left. They were incredibly inspiring. They only had good things to say about their adventures. They wished me luck in Korea and I wished them luck on their journeys and we parted.
Meeting the two cyclists was wonderful. It made me feel so happy for them for the opportunity they have gotten to embark on. I continued walking joyfully. I walked about a mile and ran into a large park by what appeared to be the U.S. consulate. I almost wanted to go inside just to be on "American soil" but I decided to walk around the park instead.
A little tired, I went to check into my hotel in Hakata, which was another ride on the subway. Regardless of being tired, I didn't want to rest while there was still daylight. So I went walking some more. In Hakata, there's a shrine called the Sumiyoshi shrine that I visited. There were quite a few people there for prayer. I watched as people walked up to each shrine, rung the bell, bowed twice, clapped twice, prayed, and bowed once more. I decided to do the same... though I wasn't sure who or what I was praying to. I just prayed for everything to go smoothly with my visa. I think that prayer for good fortune is relatively typical for these types of shrines. There was also a cute little "happy" Buddha statue outside of the shrine area. I saw a man place a pebble in front of the Buddha and place his hands around its cheeks. It was definitely a peaceful place and a great getaway from Korea's busy, bustling cities.
Walking back towards my hotel, I ran into a guy that I had previously met at the consulate. He had just purchased two cans of Japanese beer and was going to go back to his hotel room to drink by himself. I asked if he had been to Japan before and he said he hadn't. Earlier, he had read a book and taken a nap. I told him that he should take this opportunity to be a tourist and I think he realized that he was about to spend valuable exploring time in a hotel room. He asked if he could tag along with me so we went for a beer at a local sushi bar (yes! an authentic Japanese sushi bar!). I ordered wine and sashimi and he tried some of the waiter's favorites. One of the beers tasted like tomato juice and the other tasted sweet and fruity. We went for a walk after and then agreed to meet the next morning to pick up our visas together.
The next day, my new friend, Chris, and I went back to the consulate and got our visas. We went and explored the area more and talked a lot. We discussed teaching in Korea and different countries. He had taught in Vietnam and Australia. He is currently dating a girl in Korea and is looking to have a future with her. From his description, a lot of what he tells me about his relationship reminds me of my parents, so we were able to relate in different aspects.
Chris and I walked everywhere. We found a beach by Fukuoka Tower, a few parks, museums, and kept walking until we got hungry.
Just at the right time, we found a street that smelled strongly of ramen. We saw a long line of people waiting outside of a small white building. They were waiting to eat! We decided to join in. While in line, people put their money in a machine and received meal tickets. We asked people in line which buttons we should push and they picked some out for us. We stood excitedly in line waiting to go inside. As soon as people left, others were allowed to come in and eat. When it was our turn, we grabbed a seat. A few men at the table helped us to some tea and chopsticks. The kitchen was basically a ramen making assembly line with a man in front calling out orders and seating. He brought us our ramen and took our first two tickets. The ramen was so simple yet so delicious! The bowls were enormous, it was enough to feed at least four people. We wondered what our other tickets were for. We watched other people being served and realized that our other tickets were an extra serving of noodles! There was no way! I gave my extra ticket to a guy waiting in line. He was so excited and thanked me. "hai!"hai!".
After eating, Chris had to catch his ferry back to Korea. I continued exploring until I had to return to the airport. It was a short trip but still quite the experience. I definitely would like to go back for another visit. Maybe Tokyo next time and pay a visit to Fuji :-)
