The Whole Erk Catalogue Tales of a Geek Abroad

I just got back from Tokyo, where Jen caught her plane home safely. I'm too tired to write much else; suffice to say we had a great time up until it was time to say goodbye.

Everyone is saying goodbye to Jen, although most people will get to see her again in June. Yesterday was her big farewell with her friend Madoka; Madoka is going to work in Bali next month so it was their last meeting for an undefined period of time. Things are a little melancholy around the house despite the fact that she is coming back. I'm sad too... May is gonna be a fun month for me, but without Jen's moral support (and help) it's going to be overwhelming, too.

This is the nonawaited sequel to A very flowery weekend: Saturday.

On Saturday night we went to bed at about eleven, exhausted and our systems still laden with alcohol - mine after a seven hour break from touching any of the damned stuff. Despite the sleepiness, neither of us rested well, and we sort of half-woke at seven the next morning to get ready for another day much like Saturday had been. Insanity!

VERY flowery indeed. On Thursday, Japan's famous cherry blossoms started blooming around here. There is a sakura tree in clear view of my window: at the start of the day it was dark pink with closed buds, but as I watched out the window over the course of the day it slowly changed to the pale, almost white pink of open blossoms. By the end of the day more than half the flowers had bloomed.

On Saturday, we had a midday hanami with our old friend Saito. Hanami literally translates to "flower watching" (hana: flower, mi: watch). I went on one of these last year, but I believe I failed to blog about it. Last year, Saito, his friend Miura, I, and my friend Alisa went to Funaoka park to see what are billed as "the nicest blossoms in Miyagi", possibly in all of Tohoku. It was cold and dark and not much blossom viewing was done.

It's once more time for the host of assemblies and ceremonies accompanying the restart of the school year in Japan, and the welcoming of the new students. I was going to write a long discourse on the ceremonial, assemblical start to the new year, but I realised I'd already done that before. Could it be I am running out of material?

The major point of interest this year is that I have met all but a handful of Icchu's new first years this time round: they are from Medeshima, Fujigaoka, and Tatekoshi elementaries - the elementaries I have been to visit. Though I mentioned it to them before, I think the kids are still very surprised to find me here in their junior high.