Another quick update

7-3-08 Thursday, 6:30 AM local. Wednesday, 2:30 PM back home.

Didn’t have time to write yesterday. I was very busy in the later day.

After class, we had a two hour break for lunch, but there wasn’t anything worth writing about at that point. I went down to the bakery and bought enough bread to last me for a few days, at least. I made it back with enough time to have lunch and even spend some time in the computer lab, catching up a little on some stuff that I was missing.

After lunch we went to a calligraphy class. It was the first class activity we’ve had over here that I was sorry to see end. Writing the figures was just plain fun, even if it was difficult to get them right. We all got to make a final character on a special board, and it was stamped by the instructor. We are not to touch the stamp for a year, because it was made with oil and powder, and touching it would damage it.

Next up was a trip to the observatory. The only part of the narration that I understood was when it was talking about Orihime and Hikiboshi, since those two stars are involved with a festival I know a little bit about. The chairs were extremely comfortable, and I had a difficult time staying awake. I want one of them to replace the bed I have here!

We had a short , uneventful break followed by a visit to the school’s brass band. Watching them practice wasn’t very amusing, but when the started singing (yes, singing) they were good. They gave us a song as we were about to leave, and that was good as well.

The reason I didn’t have any time to write last night is because I spent the night making the cards I’m planning on using to play with the students today. Everything from this point on in Japanese class is extra-credit, so visiting the elementary school today is pretty much the last hard thing on the trip. Everything else is play.

Except for maybe the planning of the Sayonara Party. Kazuko says that we need to come up with something to show our gratitude to the local students. Some of the other students are doing the planning for that though. Nobody has asked for my ideas, which is fine with me. I don’t have any ideas for what we could do.