Today is Yesterday Or is Yesterday Today?

11:30 pm -- September 12

Fukuoka, Japan

I'm writing this post really late on Friday here in Fukuoka. Tonight we went to the Sun Palace theatre and saw the second of four shows of Blast II:MIX that we're going to see this weekend. Peter performed tonight; tomorrow afternoon he'll do the lead role and we're eager to see him in that very demanding track.

Last night the cast and crew had their annual bowling tournament AFTER doing all their preliminary tech work and performing two shows. It was a long day for them, but we all went bowling here in Fukuoka at an entertainment center about six blocks from the hotel. We had a great time. The photo is of me with my BLAST bowling buddies. From left to right: Jim, choreographer and lead male dancer; Zeke, dancer (and a really good one!); Iso who is a lighting tech; Jay, production stage manager; and me (known to the cast and crew as Peter's mom.)

On Wednesday afternoon Peter, Ed and I took a taxi to the harbor area where we walked through an interpretive center about the importance of the harbor. Fukuoka is closer to Korea than it is to Tokyo and shipping is big business here. We learned that about 25% of what is imported here is food. There are numerous wharves, an international ferry between here and Pusan, Korea and smaller ferries that go back and forth across the harbor.

We took a ferry to the Marin Ocean aquarium which is part of a much larger park on a small peninsula that encompasses the harbor. We enjoyed the dolphin show and saw lots of sealife there.

The trip back from the aquarium showed us Peter' expertise in understanding the Japanese railway system. We left the park on one short line railroad and transferred to a Japan Rail line. When that second rail line ended, we transferred to the subway which runs about a block away from the hotel. It's all fairly complicated until you get the hang of the maps and charts and ins and outs of the railroads here.

Now you need an explanation of the "today is yesterday" comment in the title of this posting. We've been watching evening baseball from the US here in Japan. So, we're seeing an East Coast game (first pitch is usually at 7:05 pm) at 8:05 in the morning here. Ed and I have been watching the ABC nightly news at 7:30 am (with voiceover in Japanese and subtitles in Japanese and Chinese and maybe Korean) and then we tune in MLB ball games. So, you see, we're seeing yesterday's game but it's really today for us. . .and the game is live. So is today yesterday, or is yesterday today? Hmm. . .it probably doesn't make any difference at all.

That's it for today from Fukuoka. You've learned about US baseball which is really big here in Japan, some more about the railroads, and about a supposedly blue collar sport that's enjoyed right here in a Japanese city of 1.4 million people.

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Tomorrow's topics: Peter does laundry with Ed; daily shopping; Ed continues his chopsticks education.