January came and went. It's now nearly the middle of February and I've left you all in the dark. Things have been a little busy here, but I have also been quite lazy in posting about life in the Southern Ryukyu islands. I have a little less than 6 months left on Ishigaki. Time is flying...
Since my last post I visited and taught on Hateruma Island, the most Southern island in Japan, where I was able to stand at the most Southern point and look out towards The Philippines (you can't actually seen them, they're too far away).
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| Marking the most Southern Point of Japan |
Hateruma is a very remote island south of Iriomote. It's very difficult to get there as the ocean's current and the deep open water combine to create rough seas which causes the ferries from Ishigaki to be canceled. I was supposed to visit the island in September but the ferry was canceled then and canceled again in November. Thankfully, the weather was nice this time around and the waves weren't too high when I set off towards the island. I suffer from seasickness sometimes so I have a method that seems to work usually. I prefer not to take the motion sickness pills because they don't wear off for several hours and I feel sleepy and dizzy and that doesn't work well in the classroom. So instead, I find several seats to lie/sleep on, drink enough water to stay hydrated, put an eye mask on, put my earphones in and try to let go and avoid thinking of food. This seems to work just as well as motion sickness medication and I don't feel groggy afterward.
