Boat Trip

On Saturday, I went on a boat trip with some Toyotama teachers. I drove an hour to Nii port, which is near the school, and met up with five or six teachers. We were picked up by a chartered bus, and made two stops in Toyotama to pick up the other teachers. Several came with their spouse, and two brought their kids. With about fifteen people assembled, we headed south on the bus, the plan being to take the boat back up to our cars.

We stopped at Saiki--the big grocery store--in Kechi to stock up on snacks and bentō. While reading on the bus and waiting for everyone else to finish shopping, I talked to a science teacher with remarkably good English. I very rarely get the chance to interact with Toyotama teachers outside of school. Subsequently, there's a big difference between the warmth and familiarity I feel at the two schools.

It's not that Toyotama folks are cold, but they haven't had a chance to get to know me and move beyond the standard arm's-length kindness. By comparison, I've had a beer with practically all my Tsushima High teachers, so they all know me as more than just that foreigner who waves at everyone.

Anyway, I also talked to the wife of one of the younger teachers. They can't be very far into their thirties, if that. He's a high school teacher, which means he works six and a half days a week, and she... just stays at home. They don't have any kids yet, and they live in one of the remotest sections of Tsushima. I don't see how she stays sane.

We got to the port and saw our ship, the New Toyotama. After taking a group photo with a Toyotama High banner, we all climbed on board. The cabin had enough normal chairs for about thirty people. In addition to the chairs, there were two raised sections of tatami seating.

The captain of the boat doubled as a guide, describing the sights as we went. We saw a couple of shrubs with purple flowers just beginning to blossom, which made everyone titter about spring coming. We passed the airport and Shiratake, Tsushima's most famous mountain.

Unsure of snack arrangements, I had brought some bread from the bakery in Izuhara. I shouldn't have bothered: everyone brought a couple of big bags of crackers, cookies, and other munchies. The vice principal waved me over to the tatami, where he was seated, and four of us devoured a bag of bar snacks. (True to Japanese form, the pretzel-ish snacks came in small bags that were themselves part of a bigger bag.) The vice principal downed a couple of beers, which was enough to get him nice and red, as well as clumsy and giggly.

We made a stop so one of the crew members could get off. On our way in to the pier, we saw some middle school boys fishing. It was pretty clear they weren't thrilled with our big diesel engine rumbling through their fishing spot, but a couple of them waved at me anyway.


Toward the end of the two-hour ride, we passed one of the more famous shrines in Tsushima. I'm such a bad resident that I don't know the name of it, but I'll find out and get back to you. Let's call it Watazumi for now. That sounds right. Anyway, this temple has five torii--stone gates for shrines--three of which are placed in the water. Depending on the tides, some or all of them can be submerged. The captain brought us by it at a perfect angle to get all of them lined up.

We docked at Nii at around 3, thanked the captain, thanked each other, and parted ways. Before leaving town, I dropped by Toyotama High to give something to Iwase-sensei... something I'll talk more about soon.