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The Bread Mobile
Ty's trusty steed. I wonder if i could get one of these babies in the States?? There are few other things that beat a solid road trip with good friends. Especially, a road trip to a beach with good breaks and a van filled to its limits with surfing and camping gear.
This weekend I escaped the confines of the islands after nearly a month of not stepping foot on the mainland. It is always a strange feeling to leave this area after I haven’t been away from it for a while. I get so used to the laidback lifestyle and the normal chill routines that the islands provide that the city almost always makes me take a step back. Back home road trips and hanging around with groups of friends is so commonplace for me, however, in Japan it is rare that I have the chance to do this, besides with my buddy Nick, for months at a time. It is strange to have these interactions taken away from you. And I always find myself a bit stressed at first when I’m in a group of non-Uoshimians or non-Ikinajimians after a long time of living it out solo on the islands.
After deciding that I needed a break, I jumped in with my buddies
Three Amigos
getting ready to hit the Kochi surf Ty, Dave, Patricia and Nick to head down to Kochi for some quality pre summer surf. It was my first time down there and I was amazed at the stark difference between the southern and northern sides of Shikoku’s coast. On the northern side it wouldn’t be that far off from certain places in New England, while in the south it looked like it was out of the pages of an Okinawian travel brochure. The water was super blue, the sand was white and hordes of colorful fish swam in between the craggy rocks that jettisoned off of the coast.
Ty drove us down to one of his favorite spots, while dealing with the craziness of the three clowns drinking the hours away in the back, serenading him with snippets of the classic “Chocolate Rain” amidst multiple calls for pee, snack and gear stops. Thanks man, that must have been rough. When we eventually got there on late Friday night, Ty’s bread mobile exploded onto the beach. I was shocked about what came out of that thing, a literal house on wheels. Tents, tables, chairs, surfboards, stoves, beach umbrellas, futons, cooking gear, fishing rods, snorkels… you can tell that
Sashimi'ed
Ty and Patricia's spear fished beasts. he has fine tuned that baby after a couple of years of similar trips. We were soon fast to sleep, listening to the waves roll in and succumbing to the nights alcoholic stupor.
The next morning it was straight to the waves. It was still a bit cold sans the wetsuit but I was so stocked to be out surfing that it didn’t matter. I sat there, with a huuuuge smile, teeth chattering, trying to force my shaking body into line so that I could paddle into wave after wave. It was quality and in no time I was hooked. A nice board will be one of my first purchases when I get back home. It was my first time but with a couple of pointers from Dave he had me up and riding that sweet Kochi surf in no time. There are few other things that feel as good.
Once the waters turned the lips a beautiful shade of blue it was off to the beach to grab a snorkel, fins and a spear gun and try our luck at landing some fish. I struggled, once again, but Dave, Ty and Patricia landed some beasts that two
Chocolate Rain
serenading the drivers with the instant classic, "chocholate rain", hahah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA
random Japanese girls sashimi’ed up for us for lunch. There’s nothing like eating a raw fish that you just speared out of the ocean, Zissou stylie. The rest of weekend basically followed the same setup. Chill, surf, beer, chat, eat, chill, surf, beer, chat, eat. It was a quality weekend to say the least.
The whole trip was kind of a wake up call for me. I felt like it sorted out a lot of worries that I have been stressing over for the last couple of months. It felt so good to be doing something that characterized most of my life back in the states: friends, laughter, bbq’s, beer, camping, chilling on the beach and talking with an ease that is unknown of on this small Japanese island. It felt perfect and it made me realize that I made the right choice to throw in my cards at the end of this summer and slowly make my way back stateside in the fall. I didn’t really realize how long I had actually been living abroad in the past 6 years until my buddy Dave put the question to me on the trip. After some thought, I realized that
I’ve more or less been away in large stints for four of the past six years with most of the time being in China, England, Taiwan and now Japan. That’s a long time. I know that I will be very sad to leave Japan, and I’ll be doing so reluctantly. It really has become my second home and there are few other countries that can top Japan in my mind but… the golden but, I also know that now is the perfect time to go. I have a solid plan worked out and just the thought of it makes me excited to get on with it.
Life is starting to branch out once again. Some people are staying, while others are moving off in their own directions. As always it will be sad to part ways with these people that I have come to know so well. At least I know I will always have weekends like this to remember. These are the memories that I will never be able to forget. Quality weekends with quality friends.
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