Sunny Days

The past few days have been some of the best since I've been in Japan. I went for a wonderful birthday dinner to a local neighborhood restaurant. The entire place was handbuilt, by the same people who work in it each day. I had a fantastic meal, but what made the night was the company. The owner, a kind, gleaming fellow, kept me entertained and feeling welcomed. Although verbal communication between us was lacking in effect, we managed to relate and share many ideas. They kept me there the whole evening and I ate again with them, when they finished work. We played guitars and sang, talked about dreams and life.

I met my 20yr old cousin the next day, she was kind, polite, sweet and very intelligent. It felt like a great leap of progress in my goals, just to sit and have lunch with her. Most of my aunts and uncles here are of an older generation, so it's neither convenient or easy to schedule times to meet with them. But I'm hoping that through their children, and their childrens children, I can begin to relate and understand.

Today I met the second of two Jr. High schools that I will be working in for the next year. I will teach from 2-4 classes a day and be able to go home before lunch, leaving me free to work another job or pursue other interests. In the Elementary schools that I was working in, I had 5-6 classes a day and would leave around 3-4 in the afternoon. The students are friendly and well behaved, at least for now. I loved working with the Elementary kids, but I'm looking forward to a little more advanced learning/teaching methods.

The weather is warm and sunny today, spring is looking really good so far...

Cherry Blossoms (Sakura)

Ok, so I don't have many gorgeous pics to show you of the amazing Cherry Blossoms ("they are all perfect"). Mainly because I am too busy and I haven't had a good opportunity to get away from the concrete and take some pics...is that a good enough excuse? Our staff from work and some of our best students all met for hanami (see the cherry blossoms) last Sunday night. It was nighttime and it was also raining, but everyone was in good spirits. We went to izakaya (eat and drink) and enjoyed some good company. Most of the pictures from that night were too dark to post here. Apparently several of the students, read this blog and have asked me to update it. I'm sorry there aren't any better pictures from that night, but I had a great time, so thank you for that! I posted a few more pics too from around Meguro Park and one from my neighborhood. (Check Elliot's and Shining Star's blogs from my links, for some really great Sakura pics from around Japan.)