Today I tried to sleep in a bit, but it wasn’t in the cards. Around seven o’clock, I got out of bed and ended up taking a walk around town, and taking some pictures of the nearest temple. The temple is called the Mukuriya Shrine, and it is fairly large. I spent some time photographing it, and then I went back to the apartment to check on the packing ordeal.
Andrew is sure that it will be no problem to leave tomorrow morning, but I’m not as optimistic. He’s got a lot of extra stuff that I will probably have to deal with. Two of his students, Haruna and Hidemi, came over and were hanging out for a while. I took the opportunity to jump on the train to Akashi, and I spent most of the day walking around exploring. I ate at a take away sushi place for only 180 yen, and finally headed back to the apartment around three o’clock. The students were still there – they had cooked up some natto for lunch, and they even left me some to try out. I’m guessing that it’s an acquired taste – I’ve never eaten anything quite that strong.
After the students left, Andrew and I walked down to the liquor store so he could get a parting gift for Mr. Hayashi – a bottle of Booker’s whiskey. It was around 5000 yen, which I think is an OK price. The store had a couple of bottles of tequila – excellent! They had Jose Cuervo (ugh), but they had silver label Herraduras, which would work just fine.
In the evening, some friends of Andrew’s came over to wish him well. They brought Kentucky Fried Chicken, and it was just as greasy here as it is in the US. They brought a japanese wine, which actually was quite good. I’m saving the bottle, and hopefully I can pick up some on a more regular basis.
Andrew is packing all night tonight to get things ready for his departure tomorrow.
