I'm on my way to the post office this morning to retrieve the long-awaited parcel from home... I think mom sent it in early May? Anyhow, I'm excited-- this is better than Christmas! New shirts! New underwear! New underwear that FITS! (I hope!) I'm almost saving money here by default... I can't shop, so I don't. It's just that easy!

What a beautiful day! It's bright and warm and breezy, the palm trees are swaying and all of the greens are brighter, thanks to the last few days of cool weather and gentle rain. Awa Odori practice is going on everywhere; as I was riding my bike home last night, I could hear the monotonous clang of the awa cymbal coming from under the bridge. I'm really looking forward to the festival in July; the streets will be packed with throngs of people in yukata (summer kimono) and everyone will be dancing, dancing, dancing.

Last weekend (thursday and friday for me) I was highjacked by the Japanese! I didn't do any laundry, or packing for my move, nothing. (Can't move yet anyway, as I don't have a key for my new apartment.) Instead I went with Bubu to the Mori's house; Mr. Mori is a university friend of Bubu's, and he is a building owner and property manager. He had tried to find me an apartment in one of his buildings, but I found one first. This didn't dampen his interest in me, and the potential for practicing his English, so I was invited to dine at his house with his family; mother, wife, and daughter. What a house! What a meal! I had jaga nikku (a kind of stew-- apparently before a young man proposes, he asks the girl if she can make jaga nikku-- if she says no, she can't cook at all, and he shouldn't marry her). There was also tempura, sashimi, natto, rice, salad, etc, etc. I also ate some biwa fruit (not 'bimbom' like I'd earlier said-- tasty little apricotty-things). Granny sat and talked with me through her grand-daughter-- mostly about a Korean actor that she fancies. Her grandaughter said that granny had fallen in love, and had the heart of a young girl again! It was a late night, and many of the old themes were rehashed, as Bubu had a new audience to regail with tales of the "hen wa gaijin" (strange foriegner). She likes sushi! She likes natto! She can understand some Japanese! She knows how to properly eat with chopsticks! She knows how to kneel on a tatami mat! WOW! I'm a wonder...

The next day I recieved an early message from Yoshino, asking if I wanted to go to an 'oriental fortune teller'. Intruiged, I agreed. We drove out into the countryside south of here, and stopped in the middle of nowhere at Yoshino's favorite okonomiyaki restaurant; you get to make it yourself on the little table in front of you! It was quite tasty, and Yoshino asked me, "does it grab you?" Yes, it grabbed me very much-- I love an opportunity to play with my food! We went from there to pick up his friend Yurie, who was to act as the 'narrator' (translator)-- but her English was about the same as Yoshino's. No matter. On to the fortune teller... she was in this tiny little hut of an office-trailer, which was jam-packed with papers and colorful decorations made of paper and ribbons, dirty coffee cups, nail-polish remover, photographs, a small TV, videos... All three of us went in together, filling up the last of the available space. The fortune teller seemed to be in her fifties, not terribly glamorous or mysterious-- more like a friendly, bossy auntie. Yurie went first, and I didn't catch much of what was said to her at all. I was next, and my 'narrators' managed to translate about 70% of what was said to me: The last three years have been difficult and unbalanced for me, but this year I am on my way up; 2007 is meant to be even better, and it is a good year for romance (!). I am meant to be a teacher of some kind. I am a leader. I am good at teaching, but not good at being taught. My spirit is like water; I am adaptable and can become accustomed to anything easily. I cannot become stronger in spriit, because it is not in my nature; I have a gentle heart. So instead of trying to change the world by becoming stronger, I should change the world by teaching the children to have gentle hearts. All in all, I was quite touched, and enjoyed the reading. Yoshino was last, and his reading was quite negative; she suggested that he was in a dark time of life, and that perhaps he should look into arranged marriage. He was pretty upset afterwards; he's not a believer in this stuff in the first place, so I think he was annoyed that the first time he ever had his fortune told he got bad news!

The three of us went from there to a beautiful, vacant beach; Japanese people believe that beach season doesn't begin until July, so regardless of how nice the weather is in June, no one goes until July! We went down to the far end and poked around the tidal pools, finding sea slugs and anenomes and hermit crabs... and even a fugu! (puffer fish) I kept chasing him around and poking him, trying to make him puff, but I think he was too freaked out to do it. I tried clambering up some of the more trecherous outcroppings, but Yoshino demanded I get down, saying, "Oh! Dangerous! Your father will be angry!" The water was warm and seriously inviting, so I ducked around a seawall and stripped down to my skivvies and jumped in. I had said earlier that I was going to go swimming, but neither Yoshino or Yurie had really believed I would. After about 15 minutes, Yoshino asked (from a safe distance of 100 feet away), "Naka-chan, may I join you?" (Naka-chan is a famous seal that lives around here. He's famous because he doesn't belong here.) So Yoshino stripped down to his boxers (as he did this, I had to keep well away, and not look, otherwise he would yell "Mitenai! Mitenai!" -- "Don't look!") And Yurie also joined in, wearing her shirt and panties. The water was deep and green and rocky, and I opened my eyes as I swam under water, chasing crabs and fish. Yurie declared that I was a mermaid, as I was still swimming and playing long after she and Yoshino tired. (I think that my natural buoyancy may have helped me there!) Yoshino, being very shy, stayed about 40 feet away from both Yurie and I at all times.

Anyway, the story goes on from there (of course)-- I had dinner that night with Yurie and her mom, which was another adventure altogether. BUT I must get on to the post office, and then off to work! Here I go...

Namaste