Well, that last blank space was meant to show a picture of me and my 'boyfriend'-- I pulled a face next to an ad for some over-the-top video game, and came out looking a lot like the effeminate anime hero I was posing with. Oh well... this is just further proof that I am not ready for the technological age. Half the time I'm a determined technology-hater. I think rude thoughts about the people who ride their bikes and type text-messages on their cell-phones at the same time. I imagine that I could be very happy living in the woods and bathing in a creek, never hearing the sound of a PC humming or an i-pod blaring, only listening to insects and owls and the wind. Then I realize my own dependance on my cell phone, my fondness for espresso from the high-speed machine, my satisfaction at typing out my stories. I could do without, but how would I do, really?

I made dinner at Bubu's house last night for him, Haruko, Eri, Yasu and Kayo. I was feeling a little under the weather, and Yasu and Kayo were fabulous kitchen helpers, chopping onions and toasting almonds. I made split-pea soup (which was close to as good as my mom's, but not quite there), an autumn salad of my own design, and ginger-pineapple chicken sandwiches. All went well up to the point of serving the sandwiches; I accidentally made 5 instead of 6, and feeling as I was, I burst into tears. Everyone was quick to console me and stop me from rushing back into the kitchen to cook up one more chicken breast-- "Daijobu, Enchan. You made American-size sandwiches! It's too big! We can share it!" I think the soup was the most successful part of the meal; the baugette I used for lack of proper sandwich bread was difficult to tear with the teeth, and soon we were all covered in chicken juice and laughing. The salad was good, but needed a little more salt or something. But the soup-- well, Yasu had three bowls, so I'll consider that a success. "You will make a good wife, Enchan," he assured me with his mouth full.

There's something about this weather that is thrilling me to my core. I'm quite lucky-- it feels as though summer has just ended. It's cool and blustery and sometimes rainy. Maz swears that the wind knows when we will be riding our bikes across that kilometer-long bridge, and shifts accordingly so that it's always against us. But I can't feel anything but acceptance for the direction of the wind, whether it's with me or against me. If it's with me, I can race the cars. Wheeee! If it's against me, I get more exersize, and the strong breeze keeps my body cool and comfortable. When I'm riding my bike through town and my hair is whipping all around me, I can chase the leaves and crunch them under my tires. I can feel the electricity of possibility that autumn always seems to bring.

As for possibilities, I'm not sure what Tokushima has got up it's sleeve for me. Some major changes have shifted the vibe in the gaikokujin (apparently, the more polite way to say 'foriegners') community. The top stories: Some of the rowdier Australian guys skipped town a couple of months back. One of them didn't even give notice at his job; he just got fed up and one morning, he was gone. Let's see, what else? Apparently some Canadian girls are giving us good Canadian girls a bad name by sitting around downtown and flashing their boobs to passerby. And-- the Kicker-- Norm closed Big Brothers! Well, not 'closed' exactly, but it doesn't exist as a sandwich shop near the station anymore. He's moved the sandwich operation into Root Down, his night club. This should make his life a little easier-- maybe now he'll actually have a life, and get to see his girlfriend more often. But for the rest of us... I don't know where to go for a midafternoon coffee and gossip. I'm not really into going out in the evenings anymore, it's expensive, and typically pretty sedate. You sit in your pre-determined group, you drink your pre-determined drink, and some people tell the stories or moan the blues or sing the karaoke songs that you've heard a thousand times before. The two dance clubs I used to go to are over-run by Eastern European hostesses, who are stereotypically unfriendly to the English teachers. (The female English teachers anyhow.) So. What's a girl to do? I've been devouring books, hiking, drawing a little more. I might get an interview in a local magazine as a Foriegn Artist (important-looking capitals my own addition). I've been going to the onsen with Miho and Kayo pretty regularly, and learning more interesting stories from Bubu. Did I mention the Chinese parable about not touching your shoe in a watermelon field, and not touching your hat in a pear orchard? How about why Japanese people put two little dishes of salt on either side of the entrances to their businesses?

Ask me if you want to know...