朝焼けを見る冒険

〜 An adventure to see the Ojika sunrise 〜

I arrived on Ojika Island excited and ready for two months of what I hoped would be some of the best moments of my 6-month trip across Japan. Instantly welcomed in by Taiyo (who runs Shimayado Goen Inn) and a great gang of other volunteers, I was buzzing to begin my life as an islander in this picturesque little paradise. 

That evening at Karaoke (of course), I found out that we were expected to start work at 7.45, which was a slight shock to the system as I had gotten into a very lazy routine of sleeping late and waking up even later. But the next day I got up, drank a few strong cups of coffee and managed the first full day at work- cleaning rooms, washing up, and doing a lot (a lot!!) of hoovering*. The work was fun and not too strenuous, but I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day; not used to waking up early, my body was knackered and a bit confused about what was going on. 

*Hoovering is British English for vacuuming. アメリカ人が使うvacuumingという言葉はイギリス英語でhooveringですー（勉強になりましたね^.^）

すごいワクワクな気持ちで、小値賀島に到着した。日本全体旅行をしているのだけど、小値賀に住む二ヶ月が一番いいかなーと思っていた。島宿御縁を経営している太陽さんと他のボランティアする人たちから温かい歓迎を受けていて、アイランドライフを始めるのが本当に楽しみだった。

あの日の夜、みんなとカラオケバーに行って、歌いながらボランティア活動の詳細について話した。午前7時半ぐらいに仕事が始まると聞いて、わああー早いーと思ったけど、小値賀に来る前怠惰な生活をし始めたから、新生活を作れるいい機会かなーと思った。

次の日、起きて、コーヒーを飲んで、宿の掃除、バキューミング、洗い物の片付けとかを楽しくできた！そんなに大変じゃなかったけど、終わった後疲れてきて、ベッドに入っていたかった。

Suddenly, I hear from the other volunteers that they are planning to wake up around 5.30 the following morning to see the sunrise. It only being my second proper day on the island, I was pretty hesitant; but as we were all staying in the same room, I was very likely to be woken up as they left, AND I knew deep down that I should really make the effort to witness something so beautiful.... So I said I would join the gang on their adventure. 

ベッドの白昼夢を見始めた瞬間に、他のボランティアが「明日日の出を見るために5時半におきるつもりだよー」と言った。まだ眠いし、小値賀にいるのは2日目だし、実はしたくない感じがつよかった。しかし、みんなともっと遊びたかったし、怠け者してるし、行ったほうがいいと思った。「はーい、私も来るよー」と言った。

6am

Somehow the four of us all managed to get up, and we began our walk to Kuroshima (where we would get the best view according to the locals). At first, we thought the clouds might be a little too low to see anything (can you imagine!!), but we soon realised that we had just arrived a little early. The sky was already a beautiful array of pastel colours, and so for a while we just enjoyed the scenery... eagerly awaiting what was going to come next.

なんとかして５時半に起きて、地元の人がオススメした黒島 に歩き始めた。着いた時、低く垂れ込めた雲が多すぎて何も見えないかもと思ったーそれだったらやばいね！！でも、たぶんもうすぐ見えると思って、日の出前のきれいなピンクと青い空をゆっくり見た。

きれい〜

Also, it was time for a little snack break... Bring out the chocopie!!!! 

小腹がすいたと感じて、チョコパイタイムになった！！！

Very happy bunnies 〜  食べる時は幸せね

Choco-pie, Choco-pie, We Love Choco-pie!

Snacks finished, we waited some more...

食べた後、もうちょっと待ってた。。。。

Then slowly and suddenly, a beautiful red light began to emerge, perfectly over the peak of an island mountaintop. 

で、きれいな赤い丸がだんだん山頂の上に上がってきた。

The entire sky changed colour, and......

急に空の色が変わって。。。

Sugoooooiiiiii------ The sun rose up from behind the mountain and spread its orangey-pink glow across the morning sky. It was easy to see why Japan was called The Land of the Rising Sun, it was just gorgeous.

すーーーごいいいいーーーーー太陽の光が見えていて、山の上にオレンジピンクな輝きが広がっていた。その瞬間、日本が日出づる国だと言われたことを本当にわかった。すごく美しかった。

After gazing in awe for a while (and taking a lot of pictures) we decided to head back home, very proud of ourselves for making the effort, and still beaming from the beauty we had just seen. 

沢山の写真を撮ったり、恐れおののいて凝視したりした後、嬉しくて満足の気持ちで、家に帰った。

Yayy we did it!! (Can you tell I was tired though???)

It was a really lovely start to our day, and I hated to admit that missing those two extra hours of sleep was so worth it. Just look at the smile on Kenichi's face????

本当にすごい朝だった。睡眠よりいい経験だと自分で認めた。賢一の陽気な笑顔を見るとわかるだろう？

If you're ever in Ojika, you really should make the effort to see the sunrise, you won't regret it! 

小値賀島に来る機会があれば、ぜひ朝焼けを見に行ってくださいー

GO TEAM! <3 

〜Abbie 

アビー