Ah, Niijima...













Wait! I'll get to that. Right now, I just want to let everyone know that after sweltering like a stuck pig in an onsen, my air conditioner finally works. No more waking up and finding my sheets smelling like feet. No more sweating when pouring milk on cereal. No more rash on inner thighs.
Actually, that might be a seperate issue.
On to Niijima!
Niijima is a neighboring island that you can see from Kouzu on a clear day. I will be teaching there in February and one of the gaijin English teachers offered to put me up and show me around. Damn Canadians! Always showing us up with their socialist government, hospitality, and fine, fine syrup.
I got on the boat all by myself. If you stand around looking like a village idiot long enough, some Japanese will steer you in the right direction and smile. I smiled real big to the young Tokyo couple that helped me out, clapped my hands, and ran off to explore the boat.
For being a rinky-dink interisland boat, it was pretty plush. Nice seats, TVs showing a couple of soaps, some tatami rooms to snooze in. The best part though was the vending machine serving hot food. Hot food, yeah! I didn't know what half that deep-fried shit was, but it all looked delicious. I picked some brown looking onigiri (rice molded into triangle shapes), and I picked right! They were soo delicious and they were microwaved in one minute just for me.
I headed to the deck and chatted it up with the Kouzu clinic intern and this totally rad little girl, who would point out an object and shout the English word. She would dissolve into a fit of giggles whenever I said, "Sumimasen, wakarimasen" ("Sorry, I don't understand"). She didn't understand when I said that I was gonna find her in Tokyo, snatch her away from her parents, and take her to live in Kouzu so she could be my little playmate forever. But I think she'll be down.
Got to Niijima and Mike H (the damn nice Canadian) was at the dock waiting. We zoomed off in a little car and he showed me around the village.
Niijima is part of the same island chain as Kouzu and has the same population, but they couldn't be more different. It's shaped more like a barbell and has a few fields, while Kouzu is all mountains. Niijima is also pretty hoppin', due to the surfing that goes on here. Lots of gaijin come here to surf and soak in the free onsen. It has beach parties, reggae nights, and a glassworks factory and museum.
For dinner, we went to a barbecue put on by the local cooking club.







Delish. And I chatted it up in Spanish with a farmer who spent two years in Ecuador. Rad. Here he is with Mike teaching his kids the magic of fire.







Mike had whisked me around to soo many places that I conked out by 10pm (that bottle of shoju we polished off didn't help either). The next day, we went to a nearby island called Shikine. Way smaller than Niijima, it has kind of a rustic, run-down resort feel to it. The onsen (hot springs bath) is free and chock full of minerals to help take care of that eczema or tapeworm that's bugging you.



While I was hopping around like a puss, that little old lady in the corner was soaking up the waters like it was zero below. She just watched me and laughed. Also there were the giant sea cockroaches (funemoshi in Japanese. I think.). This guy




eased into the water with a belch and a fart, and asked me if I could be a sweetheart and get him a beer.
Yeah, I know! These guys are in Kouzu too and they run around in swarming packs! Like they're at Lollapalooza! Every time I go running, there's a point where I'm hopping and flailing my arms because I think they've gone up my shorts. They're huge and scary.
Anyways...
We stopped for some delicious black sesame ice cream (so good!) and went back to Niijima. We hung out at the beach,


where the water was calm and clear (I was trying to get a picture of my toes). Later, we met up with Yuya, one of the guys who works at the glassmaking factory. I wish I had a picture of the glass boobs he made. Very realistic. I wish mine were that hard.
We had some dinner and went to a beach party called Wax. Very chill, laidback atmosphere. Not a lot of people, but it was still a fun time. There are tents set up and big orange chairs to sip your shoju in.





We spent much of the time drinking, laughing at the nerdy Germans, and throwing sand at each other once the alcohol really kicked in. A fun time was had by all.


We could've hit the onsen, since it's open all 24 hours, but I have learned the hard way that booze and hotspringing don't mix.







Next day, I hopped back onto an even more rinkydink boat and headed back to my sleepy lil hamlet. Niijima was totally rad and it's gonna be great when I teach there, but I'm happy that I can take things in at my leisure here in Kouzu. It's enough trying to navigate something as simple as the post office right now.