Kikai/Japan Idiosyncrazies, Part Trois

Once again, back on a toasty Wednesday morning. It's unseasonably hot here, they say, even though others have told us that it don't get cold 'till December. Dang it. Sounds like we may have even less of an autumn than Oklahoma typically does, but we'll see about that. People have told us so many different things about the weather that I'm starting to believe Hillary Clinton more than them.

This entry is actually quite relevant, since we're thinking about travelling to a different nearby island this weekend since Monday is a holiday.

-There are two ways to get to Kikai - the ferry and the airplane. The flight from nearby Amami island is 10 minutes (I think I mentioned that earlier). The ferry from Amami is 2.5 hours. No prob, really - 2.5 hours on a ferry ain't bad at all. But let's say you, being a travel-loving person like us, would like to take a trip over to Amami or even do the 11 hour ferry to Kagoshima on the main island, just for the weekend. You can leave on Friday, no problem - just take the ferry. But try to come back, that's the problem! There is NO ferry to Kikai on Sunday. OK, what about all-night on Sunday night/Monday morning, to get back in time for work? No dice. No ferry on Sunday OR Monday. The only ferry back from Amami is Tuesday. And that's in the EVENING. So if you want to come back from a weekend, you have to take two days off (Mon and Tues) so you can get back. It occurs to me now that this is probably a ploy to increase air traffic on Sunday and Monday. I guess it works. I asked someone about it and they explained that workers commute in on the ferry. My 1st thought was, "Dang, that's a ridiculous commute!" My 2nd thought was, "Um, don't most people work on Mondays?" So I don't know why. No really, I don't. Imagine that.