On Monday, May 26, I found out about a craft beer festival in Fukuoka, and in the evening I went to check it out. It was near the lively Akasaka region. It seemed a bit strange, but it was inside a plain empty room on the 2nd floor overlooking the lobby of a normal office building. When I got there, there was a line-up to get in, but it moved quickly. About 100 people. For about $40 you got some snacks and a cup. There were a dozen or so stalls a different craft beers from Kyushu and other parts of Japan.
I was the only non-Japanese person there. The fun thing was that after everyone had a few beers they were talkative and I got to practice more Japanese.
Tuesday was the first day of a calligraphy exhibit at the Art Museum. My teacher in Kyoto had told me about it and I went to see it. Over 100 pieces in this annual exhibition of selected works from around Japan. It was interesting to see not just the different calligraphy styles, but also the creative use of different sized characters on the same work, or unusual placement on the paper, or characters drawn in such a way that they resembled pictures of something.
On Wednesday I went for another run in Ohori Park.
On Thursday, May 29, the school organized a conversation group with local Japanese.
Friday was the last day at the school. For those leaving that week, there is a 'graduation ceremony' where we get a certificate and say a little speech. It must a bit strange for the teachers, every week saying goodbye to some of the people you've been having classes with for 3 hours every day.
When some people of a class are leaving that week, we take a picture of the class. Here is one from a couple of weeks ago, and one from this week.
After the graduation ceremony, a couple of us went for lunch. Then I just went back to the hotel to start packing, then out for a beer and dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment