I woke up early this morning with a bit of a hangover, the other side of the partying coin. With a bit of effort, lots of water, and a couple of aspirin, I was on my way to work on time.
There I studied hard for about two hours, with the occasional break to chat with a teacher or student. Mr. Komuri was back at school, and in his honor several teachers went to the next door cafe to have lunch. He told us about his trip, biking around Japan in seemingly random directions, and staying at inns along the way. It sounded like a great trip.
We had a long lunch telling stories, and then I went home. I wasn’t home long before Jane dropped by to ask about where to pick up packages – she had received a notice in her box, and she wanted to know where to go. She also wanted to do a little shopping and was wondering where some good places to shop were. I had already planned on going to Himeji to meet Carrie for dinner, so I offered to take her to the post office, and then take her to Himeji for some shopping.
It worked out great, actually. We made the short trip to Uozumi so that she could pick up her package, and then we got on the super express which took us to Himeji. We arrived right about on time, and we met Carrie right outside Baskin Robbins.
Carrie had worked in the orientation seminar at Yashiro this year, so Jane already knew her, at least by sight. Carrie gave some helpful shopping suggestions to Jane, and then we sprung her loose to go on a buying spree. Carrie and I went to the Persian restaurant and sat down to eat.
The food was great – just as good as the last time we were there. Carrie had lots of great stories and we spent most of the time comparing notes on the new JETs, talking about our plans for the future, and how our impressions of Japan have changed over the year that we’ve been here.
After dinner we went back to 31 Flavors for some dessert, but on the way I saw one of my students sitting with a friend. As we approached them she recognized me – I could barely recognize her. Her outfit was pretty suggestive. I couldn’t believe this was the same girl from my class – she looked like a hooker out on the town. She asked if Carrie was my girlfriend, and I told her that she was just a friend. We chatted for just a little while, and then we continued on to the ice cream. Maybe word will get back to Mr. Hayashi that I was with a girl, and he won’t worry about whether I’m gay or not.
Instead of ice cream we had crepes, which seem to be pretty popular around here. I’d never had one before, and after much deliberation picked a banana, ice cream, corn flake, and chocolate one. It was good! We sat around and watched the people walking by. It was a fun night. Tomorrow I’m going over to Chelsea and Timote’s place for a potluck dinner. What to bring, though? I haven’t been shopping because I knew that I’d be so busy this week. Something easy, something local. Hmm…
