free fallin'

ahoy hoy! terribly sorry (though not at all) for the lackadaisical postings. truth be told, not a fat lot has happened since my cultural festival/sports day, hence the unupdated blog. but i shall do a drive-by summary of the past three weeks.

sept 5 - received a rather dashing wedding invitation pour le mail (not actual french). i am now formally going to gareth (matt's older bro) and nicole's wedding! OMG just realized i never rsveepeed. whatever. i think they can safely assume i'm coming, since matt and i have been talking about it since january.

sept 6 - one year anniversary wif mattsy. received an amazing stash of giftoids in the mail, including, but not limited to: crunchies, norn iron paraphernalia, poetry book, brit glamour mag, percy piggies, TOPSHOP CERTIFICATE, etc. i felt like a super big cheapskate for only sending him soft oreos and pizza chips. story of our relationship, LOLZ JOKES

sept 7 - was walking home from work, and passed an elderly man moseying around in his front yard shirtless. we exchanged konnichiwas, then he kind of giggled and sheepishly whispered, "hazukashii," (i'm embarrassed). i was too hazukashii to tell him i liked it.

sept 8 - bought my first white bean cake at the corner store. changed ma life. too bad everything in japan is seasonal and the cakes were only around for two weeks. and too bad i literally bought all of them, leaving none for other customers.

sept 9 - ate at pian piano (local bootleg pizza place) with tracey and keith. you know, i don't think i've ever extolled japan's "drink bars." pian piano has one, and basically you pay the equiv. of $3 for unlimited soft drinks/juices/teas/coffees. i love it. especially the radioactively green melon soda!

sept 10 - aoshima beach party! peeps were worried that it would rain, but luckily the weather was on our side! jordy sweetly picked me up in miyazaki city, and we joined tiff for lunch at a surfer cafe. then, as more people showed up (including a possibly criminal 48-year-old kiwi man), we imbibed and merry-made. i slept like absolute bumder in the tent, so the next day trots and i drove back to nobeoka early in the morning, and i had a lovely 3 hour nap.

sept 12 - during cleaning time, a gaggle of second year boys were conspiring to talk to me. finally, one managed, "i hope....you...are...cute?" kotaro, another second year who has never been shy about his feelings toward me, overhead him and exploded, "SHUT UP WITH ME!" at him, causing peals of laughter all around.

sept 14 - my supervisor has a penchant for randomly giving me snacks. on this particular day, it was a bag of tasty, salty veggie crisps. i was almost finished with it, so i poured the rest into my hand. a hard, dried little fish, head and all, fell into my palm. i had to choke back my bloodcurdling scream.

sept 16 - pouring rain. typhoonish. i really dislike walking to school in the heavy rain, because my feet get soaked and stanky. however, things improved after school, when i hustled home and got conveyor belt sushi with tracey and carmen. the next day, carmen and i left for our kumamoto trip!

i'll try to post about kumamoto tomorrow. 'twas grand!

aaaand in other news, the weather, similarly to last year, turned cold overnight. not super cold, but the mornings and evenings are chilly, and the daytime is crisp. i'm loving it for now, for the approximately 7 days it will stay nice like this. because it will soon tank into subzero temperatures. at least all the bugs will die.

AND, next friday i depart for the emerald isle, finally! will be there for a full week, meeting the mckibbin clan, shopping at topshop, getting the belfast tour, and popping in on a wedding. no big deal!

unsweatily, for the first time in months,
lilly