Dazaifu, Day 26 - Work, work, work...

I still have a boatload of paperwork to finish, so I dig in.

My BUGS report has been posted, with the pictures, and I have the first four weeks of summer journaling ready to upload, but I need to get the pictures posted to the XOOPS server. That is a long, slow process - at this time, there is no facility available to FTP the image files directly to the server, so each one has to be selected, named and uploaded individually, using an internal process in the XOOPS software. XOOPS is a giant step in the right direction, as web posting goes for this program, but there are still a lot of working issues to be dealt with.

(The real issues are both financial and technical in nature; it takes bandwidth to run a multi-user server, which costs money. The more bandwidth needed (which is the case if you are using FTP or other batch file transfer systems in multi-user mode), the more money is required to pay for that bandwidth.)

My pictures for Week 1 are finally uploaded, and I create a new post in the Jefferson subforum, entering my text (cut and paste work quite well), and adding the pictures at appropriate intervals. Once that's done, I view the results and close the posting. Now, I just have to do Weeks 2, 3, 4,.....

It was raining rather heavily when we came to school today, but stopped for a bit during mid morning. I decide to head for the post office to mail another package; with luck, this and the package to my sister will finish most of my shipping. I grab the umbrella, just in case. (Good thing, too - by the time I finish there, it's raining again, although not as heavily as before.)

Ishii is making a copy of a tape that showed the entire welcome ceremony for me, and that reminds me that I need to make copies of my pictures for him and Nakagawa. I've got the CDs - I just need to get them burned and labeled. I will work on those during odd intervals throughout the day.

Lunch is with one of the 9th grade classes; a couple of the boys are interested in telling me about their sports activities (judo and baseball), then one of them asks me if I have ever seen "Star Wars". ;-) I tell him that, while I have not seen the latest installment, I have seen most of the others and, in fact, watched the original on Japanese TV a couple of weeks ago. I then ask him which is his favorite character. He likes the Jedi knights in general.

He also wants to know if I know about Harry Potter (since the next book is due out next week, that's an understandable question). I tell him, yes, I have seen all of the movies and in fact bought my copy of "Order of the Phoenix" when I was in Japan two years ago. He seems impressed by this.

The afternoon is spent visiting classes and finishing the CD copies. I get to watch the taiko drummers as they practice again; Nakagawa-sensei asks if I would like to try drumming again, but I decline, preferring to get more pictures and video (besides, I know that they are practicing for Friday's farewell ceremony, and I don't want to disrupt that practice).

Around 4:30 PM, Matsumoto-sensei comes over to ask if I am ready to leave. I pack up quickly and we head for Fukuoka. Matsumoto has arranged for us to visit a shop famous for its Hakata dolls, and we will get to try our hand at painting our own.

Hakata dolls are a very well-known specialty of this region; they are porcelain slip dolls that are hand-painted and portray traditional and modern Japanese characters and scenes. There are a number of artisans that do this work; this shop is in the heart of Fukuoka and is well-known for its fine painters and doll designers. Most of its doll patterns are unique to that shop.

We are each given a doll depicting a lady in a kimono. The paints are acrylic water colors, much like the ones I used in Nakagawa's class last week. The kimono is painted first, then the obi and other accessories. Finally the hair and some facial features are painted. I'm not the greatest painter in the world, but I manage a credible job, and my doll looks very nice when I have finished.

Then I walk around looking at the professional works of art. I had already decided that I wanted to buy at least one to take home; because of packing issues, I think that a small one would be best. I find a small one (a little samurai)...then a pair of kendo fighters...and a tiny set depicting a Nara-era court scene, but in cats! Okay, they're all little; I buy them all......

The shop owner takes care to pack everything in extra padding; she understands that I must carry them home in a suitcase. At least this way, everyone gets something special. (Let's see if they can figure out who gets which dolls.......)

As we leave the shop, we spot another Yamakasa float and go to take some pictures of it. Then we head back for Chikushino; Matsumoto has made reservations at a restaurant there. The food is delicious - a mix of several of my favorite kinds of Japanese cooking using plenty of locally available fish.

This has been a great day. I head back for the apartment, ready to get some sleep.