Shikoku

Well Shikoku was a bit crappy. I guess I was only there for a couple of days and spent most of the time on the train so its my own fault. We stayed one night in Kurashiki which is supposed to have some nice old streets and should basically offer a glimpse of the Japan thats been destroyed in favour of pachinko parlours. The hotel in Kurashiki was pretty weird. The website didn`t really give any information other than the rooms were cheap and there was a free bus from the station. What they didn`t say was that its situated right opposite a huge oil refinery and industrial complex, giving a lovely few of flaming pipes and bleching smoke stacks from the bedroom window. So I was almost more supprised to see how busy the hotel was, given the location, as it looked pretty full. And everyone was walking around in the lobby and restaurant (and obligatory manga library) in their complimentary Yukata`s (blue for men and pink for women of course) - being in foreigner and in regular clothes made me feel that much more out of place. Yesterday three of my kids classes finished for the year. So thats the end of that - no teary eyed goodbyes, no "thanks for teaching", they all just left like they were expecting to come again next week. Maybe they were actually.