Yo, Check it out yall.

I am alive! I apologize to those few people who still check this thing (is anybody out there?) for not writing in so long. Truth is, as my Grandfather used to say, I've been busier than a one-eyed cat watchin' two mouse holes. But busy in a good way. In June my favorite lady Kristin came to visit, and we went to all of our "natsukashii" places in Kyoto, then spent a dreary, mostly not fun day in rainy Osaka. I also had the pleasure of showing her around my current home, Murakami. You should ask her yourself, but I think she liked it.

Then, I stayed at the home of one of my English conversation students for 3 weeks. Her name is Hiroko Suzuki, and she is the most amazing cook ever (well, at least she is tied with my real mom and my Japanese mom, Masami). Her husband is also a really nice guy. He barely speaks when he's not drinking, but luckily every night he gets toasted on an ample amount of sake, so we ended up having some pretty interesting conversations. It was great Japanese practice for me.

Next I went home, which was the highlight of my Summer. I can't express how good it felt to see my family and friends again, to eat a burrito the size of my head while indulging in as many free refills as I like, and to be able to read EVERYTHING around me. Holy crap, I can read this entire menu, and moreover I know what every dish is! Talk about refreshing. The trip was entirely too short, and I apologize to those of you who I didnt get to see. I'll be back at Christmas to be in my other favorite lady's wedding, so hopefully I'll see you all then :)

A week after I returned to Japan, I went to Tokyo to attend Japanese school and basically just take a nice long holiday. Nice thing is, my Board of Education let me take "training leave" for it, so I didn't have to use a bit of my paid vacation. It was a lot of fun to be in the city, which couldn't be more opposite from where I live now. I got to experience all the "city" things I've never done before in one of the biggest cities in the world (is it the biggest? I don't even know...) Taking the packed train for 40 minutes every day to school, shopping in all the famous Tokyo stores and malls, staying out at a club until 5 am -- things that are not an option out here in the extreme inaka. I also did a homestay there with a really cool family in Asakusa. My host father, Yosuke, is the stage manager for Ayumi Hamasaki, and last year was the SM for EXILE. I know this means nothing to you gaijin readers, but it's basically the equivalent of being the SM for say, Britney Spears and N'sync. My host mom, Yumi, used to be a sound engineer, so she met Yosuke through work. They have an adorable 2 year old daughter named Mai who I completely fell in love with. She called me "oneichan" which means big sister. The whole family was great about making me feel at home, and again, it was great Japanese practice.

Now I'm back in Murakami. Classes have started and I'm back to the same old same old, though it's really nice to be back. I'm not a city girl, and I was ready to get back to the rice fields, sea and mountains. Also, after the whirlwind of this summer, it will be nice to settle back into a routine.

I think I'll do a seperate photos post, where I'll just string all my pictures in one big post and maybe (if you're lucky and I'm bored) I'll put captions with them. I wouldn't look for that until next week, though.

Back to celebrity gossip blogs, the guardian.co.uk and my other various distractions for boring work days. I love my job!