It's been so long since I've written that I can't remember what I've done but, here goes:
Saturday the 12th we had our 4th of July party. It was fun. M's, B's, E's, Kimberly, Pat, Elaine, Chizuru, and Elaine's friend all came. We bbqed yakitori, did hanabi (I managed to burn a hole through one of K's chairs, & my finger), played "Peter, John 1-7", made a video for Daniel's parents, and had a great time. It ended with a fizzle, when I walked Chizuru to the station. She was sad & wouldn't tell me what was wrong. I told her to call me when she got back from her parents house, she said "no", because she was too busy. I said "too busy to call?", she said "very busy", I said "goodbye. End of story.
Sunday I met Elaine at 3:45. We went to Sannomiya and met Cally, a new JET teacher in Himeji. We went to church & singles, then Elaine stayed at Kimberly's and Cally & I came back to Himeji. It was fun. She's a nice girl. (It floored us all, though, when at singles she said that she'd chosen to give up pre-marital sex).
Monday, Aug. 14th, I met Resa & Mike at 10:55. Resa & I went to find some material for her to cover a tea box. We found a nice mauve & beige plaid.
We all ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant above Jusco. Lots of food, not too expensive.
Wednesday, Aug. 16th I met Mike & Resa at Himeji Station at 7:30 and we went to Rokko to cover tea boxes. The class (dubbed the remedial tea box covering class) consisted of me, Kimberly, Resa, and Scott V. We began at 9 and finished at 7:30. It was hard & detailed & complicated & my perfectionism went out the door! By about 4:30 I was thinking "can't I just nail this stupid fabric on, shoot a few staples it it & go?". But Mary B., who taught the class & showed that her nickname "Sarge" was appropriate, said a big "NO!". Joanne P. helped us that day too. Mike went to Sannomiya in the a.m., but in the afternoon got drafted to help Resa & me.
My tea box fabric...
...and the tea box today (yep...I still have it...30 years later!)...
Kimberly's material had river current and maple leaves on it, and to my surprise, Scott had picked the very same fabric that I had (great minds think alike).
After the tea box ordeal, I stuffed mine in B's van, then Scott & I went to Kimberly's for a Fuji-san mini-reunion. We got to look at M's photos & slides (excellent) and talk.
I spent the night, and went back to Himeji on Thursday.
Saturday, Aug. 19th I went to Rokko with Elaine to the singles BBQ. We had hamburgers, talked, played games, and made a video cassette for Kimberly's friend, and an audio tape for Elaine's parents...strange. Carol W. and I sang the Happy Birthday death song on the video, while Kimberly stood behind us smiling. It was hysterical!
Saturday night Elaine & I stayed at G's. Kimberly & her mom stayed at Mitsuko's. We spent the wee hours talking about hotel and restaurant management...it was interesting.
Sunday E. & I went to morning service, then to OPA for lunch at Central Station and shopping. We watched a stilt comedian during lunch.
After OPA we went to Tokyu Hands, then to evening service. I stayed at B's w/Dennis, Robin (henceforth "sis"), and only got a little sleep in the fabulously air-conditioned room because of Dennis's snoring. :-(
Monday morning I led the music portion of bible school at KIBC. We did "Father Abraham" and "Praise Ye the Lord". It went well, and was fun.
After that I left for Kyoto. Kimberly, Mitsuko, and Pat were supposed to have left at 8:00, so I had to go on my own. (It turns out they got a late start & were behind me). 4 phone calls & 1 stop beyond where I was supposed to get off the bus, I arrived at Scott's apt. Sandy was there too. We all ate lunch, then Mitsuko & I went to do some banking & we all met at the handicraft center. Mitsuko went crazy buying gifts for her trip to America. I bought a doll & cat wood block for mom & a storefront woodblock & 2 post cards for myself.
After the h.c. we went to a coffee shop, then Pat, Kimberly, Mitsuko & I went back to Mukonoso and ate at a wonderful little Italian restaurant. I had ravioli & garlic bread. We got free dessert & coffee because Mitsuko knew the owners. Then I went back to B's & finished baking p. butter cookies for Mary before going to bed.
Tuesday, August 22nd I got up, talked to Mary & Dennis for awhile, then we went to bible school. I led music again. We sang "Deep & Wide" and "Sing Sing Sing to God" (to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". The words are:
"Sing, sing, sing to God,
sing out loud and strong,
we will praise Him with our singing,
singing all day long").
After bible school I went to Sannomiya and bought German marks, then went back to Himeji.
Wednesday Scott came to Himeji for a few days. We went to Himeji Castle, Mt. Shosha, and Murasaki. Sandy was supposed to come, but didn't, so all day, until Murasaki where Elaine & Kimberly met us, it was just Scott & I. We had a great day. We found out that we have a lot of the same likes & dislikes (our "phrase for the day" was "of course"...every time one of us said we like something, the other would say "of course"). He's a fun guy. On Mt. Shosha we saw a snake that had slithered half way up a tree. It was long, black & disgusting! Neither of us like spiders either.
Kimberly, Elaine, Scott & I went to the Washington Hotel after Murasaki, for cake & coffee. It was fun.
They all came over & spent the night.
Thursday Elaine left and Kimberly, Scott & I went to McDonalds for breakfast. We met M's on the way after b'fast. We all went to Tegarayama Park. Nao & Masano's dad has a food stand there, so they snuck us in through the back & we got in free. The pool was great. They have a "river", waterfalls, a water slide, and a regular pool.
We bought food at N's stand and one of Sheila's students brought us free sodas from another stand, and one of my students brought us free makizushi. What hospitality.
Kimberly & I rode the baby roller coaster, then Nao took us in her car to the Botanical Gardens. After looking around there, and getting the catsup off of my backpack in one of the fountains...we went to the aquarium. It was neat & there were lots of unusual fish & other marine life. There was a penguin that did tricks and an entire pool full of Japanese carp.
After the aquarium we took a taxi to Himeji Station. Everyone went their separate ways. Scott came back to my place & started watching "The Color Purple". I cleaned & did laundry. After that we went to M's for dinner. I dropped off some stuff that I didn't want left in my apartment while I was in Europe and Nao's boyfriend was staying here. After dinner Scott & I caught the train. I got off at Sannomiya to stay overnight with Kimberly. I lugged my big suitcase to Okamoto to leave it so that I wouldn't have to bring it to church.
Friday, August 25th I came home after spending awhile in Sannomiya w/Kimberly (we had lunch at Taco Time, then went to Sannomiya to look around).
Friday night class was away. We went to Fukuzaki and played tennis. It was hot. We had the court from 6-7, then from 7-8 we played "Peter, John, 1-7". It was fun.
After I got home Elaine called. She was depressed because Aeon had critiqued her classes, so needed to talk. We talked for a few hours. I encouraged her to do her best, and, in two weeks when she's critiqued again, if the still aren't happy, to quit & try to get a job at OTC. After we talked she called Kimberly & talked.
Saturday morning she felt better.
She left, then I did more cleaning and arranging for while I'm gone.
I met Mike, Resa, and the kids at 5:00. We went to McDonalds, then to a video place. We rented "Casual Sex" with Lea Thomson. It wasn't very good. "Lost Boys" was on t.v. so we watched that, too.
Mike bought a Sony video walkman, and, through the course of the evening I decided to get one too. It's about half price, with a lot of added equipment until the end of August, so Mike's going to buy it for me & I'll pay him back over four months when I get back from Europe. Boys must have their gadgets (a pricey one at 100,000 yen (about $700.00) but a nice one!).
Today it's rainy & yukky (of course)(I have to carry a bunch of luggage all the way to the train station).
I'm finishing up cleaning & putting away. I'll meet Elaine at 3:45, we'll go to church and singles, then stay over at G's. Kimberly's mom flies out tomorrow. We'll have lunch at Gaylords, then go to the airport.
Then Thursday, I'll get up, take the bus to Osaka, get through the airport, and be off to Europe (following entries will be from there)...
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