Quake and pottery

After being told that earthquakes were rare in this part of Japan, our island got hit with a magnitude-seven on Sunday morning. The quake was off the coast of Kyushu nearest the city of Fukuoka at the north end of the island. Turns out we were not that far away; we had taken a day trip up the north coast of Kyushu in Saga and were exploring an old cstle/fortress in the coastal town of Karatsu. Dave was in a small building and the windows rattled a bit; he thought it was wind from the sea. We didn't know anthing until Aya, from Okinawa, called on our cell not long after. The quake caused some damage, but thankfully the casualties were low.

There's been a few aftershocks, Tuesday was 5.1 level -- It disrupted things at Sony, but the kids and I didn't notice it. Guess our apartment building is built better than Sony's fab.

Tuesday was my chance to go back to Arita, a town just north of here famous for its pottery- something about the local clay drew Korean masters centuries ago. Shopping in Arita is like going to the pachinko parlor... you're done when your wallet is empty.

It POURED all day and I must've looked like a drowned rat. One shop owner made me sit and have coffee (served in a beautiful mug), another desparately wanted me to take his umbrella and in the third store, a fellow shopper kept jabbering at me in Japanese until I realized that she thought I had taken the train and she was offering me a ride back to the station. She seemed very surprised when I pointed at my car. All very sweet.