...you can see Shikoku. But only if you're looking the other direction. Today, I'm looking west, toward the mountains and down on my school.
If you climb the path behind the college dorm building, at the top of the hill is the old school and the director's old house. That's where I took this photo...looking down on the new school complex. The building on the far left with the three-gabled roof is the administration building. It has a lovely tea ceremony room and an onsen-heated swimming pool on the top floor. The two-storey building on the right contains the high school staff room (where I spend most of my days), offices, and classrooms for 3rd year students. Then the building with new classrooms, and finally the old, unheated building where I teach my solo classes. The long low building in the front, facing the athletic field is the kindergarten.
It's a rare day in Japan (or at least in Beppu-shi) that the sky comes out blue in a photograph. Usually the mountains are shrouded in low clouds. When I walk the five minutes to school, I'm hardly aware of them. And I love mountains. Having grown up around them in Albuquerque and Las Vegas, I never stop missing them when I'm in Austin.
Actually, here there aren't many vistas; the view is hemmed in by high walls lining the narrow streets. I have to really look for a view. But isn't this one nice? I should come up here more often, but whenever I do, Negoro-san gives me a look as if she's wondering what mischief I'm up to.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
May 20, 2003
Share Your Thoughts
On a clear day, you could see Shikoku, if you were looking in the other direction.