Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here.

The past week has been beyond hectic between moving to Japan, job training in Tokyo, and setting up my new apartment. But, I’ve finally settled down and am ready to give the heads up.

I arrived in Kyushu last Wednesday, and have been having a blast ever since then. Bungo Ono resembles a Grand Canyon blanketed with trees and very sparsely sprinkled with outdated buildings. It is a green, mountainous country one hour in any direction from modern metropolitan life, and it’s unlike anywhere I’ve ever been before. The sheer amount of nature is nearly overwhelming—and that’s quite a bit to say from a person raised in the Emerald City.

On the other hand, I can’t believe how many bugs are here. I’ve killed three cockroaches in my apartment, all of which were large enough to star in an Indian Jones movie. Furthermore, my bathroom is out the door, down the stairs, and around the corner, which means any showers at night result it me being practically mummified in spider webs. Moreover, there are apparently slugs that crawl into your brain at night and take over your body. Fortunately there is a special group of people that can transform into animals, such as falcons, and they do a fairly good job of protecting the citizens. I’ve got a Japanese style apartment complete with sliding doors, ten tatami mats, and a toilet that doesn’t flush, but rather drips water. It’s generally a pretty nice place, but I constantly live in fear of the slugs.

That aside, as many of you know, I received my motorcycle license well before coming to Japan and now hold an international drivers permit for both two and four wheeled vehicles (no offense to the trike riders). The English teachers that had being living here before me said the streets were probably good for riding, but then again none of them have bikes so it was probably impossible for them to appreciate the sheer perfection of the windy mountain roads.

Take Beppu, the hot springs littered city an hour from my house, for example. There are essentially three sections to the city: ocean, town, mountains. Which means that if I’m driving through the city, there are enormous mountains to my left, and a beautiful ocean to my right. Now, I don’t own a motorcycle yet, but I do have a friend that does, and he took me for a ride the other day, and LETMETELLYOUITWASAMAZING. Instead of trying to explain how great the roads are here, I’ll leave you with two word, and a video.

Initial D.

Literally, just like that. I’ll be applying for a loan to buy a new, black, Kawasaki Ninja 250 R this Saturday, which also happens to be my birthday. If things go well I will be taking to the mountains with a camera and making the first of a new breed of samplers. Hope you guys enjoy.

Train hard.