The farewell bbq was fun. There were a lot of people there. Mike brought his video camera and I was behind it for most of the day. Akira & Hiroko left early and took the futon to Kyoto with them (they went to a wedding), so we rode to my place (Kimberly & I) & loaded it then walked back to the party with me taping the walk back. It was fun.
That night Mitsuko went to a wake, then stayed over. The next morning we got up & around, and went to Rokko to get ready for the bbq (choir). Everyone came at about 1:00-ish. I made bbq sauce with okonomiyaki sauce and catsup & everyone like it a lot. Nicki & I had a chance to talk while we were battling the smoky grill. She's such a doll!
I met Chiyomi and Mayumi at the eki at 6:30. They gave me a briefcase. I was really surprised.
The concert went very well. I turned it over to God, and He took care of everything. I used comedy, seriousness, and music, and had a really good time. Lots of people were praying for me, and I could tell.
Kimberly started crying during the 3rd song, so I knew it was going to be a hard show, but using comedy helped lighten the mood a bit. I was fine until the last song, "Friends", and I made it through, but started tearing during the last chorus. My last phrase was really shaky, and my speech (thank you), afterwards choked, but overall, it was a great time. I enjoyed doing a concert for the 1st time, really. I know it's because God was in control. It was great.
After church, and a teary farewell from Chiyomi & Mayumi, and saying see you later to Akira & Hiroko, I waited around & rode to singles with the B's. Kimberly & I had to say a few things about our lives & time in Japan.
After singles we had fellowship, and they made a cake for K & I.
Monday Mitsuko got up & left early (for the funeral). I met Daniel & Sheila at Himeji eki at 12. We got on the train & went to Suma. We met Mitsuko at the station & walked along the beach (through the "demiliterized zone"- old cars, nets, & war looking trash) to the Suma Aquarium. We ate at a soba shop before the aquarium.
The aquarium was gorgeous! The best part was a wall with a big window in it. There were lots of different kinds of fish. We also saw the sea otter show, fish feeding, and dolphin show. The aquarium was a really neat place.
After the aquarium, we went to Sannomiya, then ate at Gaylord's.
Tuesday I went to Hinomoto and gave the 1st year retest. There were 2 students. One passed, but the other only got a total of 16 pts. out of 100. I couldn't believe it. She'd had most of the questions on the 1st test, but still didn't pass! I had to grade them and give final grades, even though neither of them was my student. The office made me miss my train home by calling each of the teachers & asking them questions regarding the two students. John wanted me to give his student's final grade, but I said I only could judge by her final exam score, so couldn't.
I walked slowly back to the station (I had 40 minutes before my next train), then got on a two car train that was absolutely jam packed. Needless to say, I was not happy.
I met Mike at my apartment at 12:15 and we took my cubic meter of stuff to Kobe to the shipping company. We got stuck in traffic on the way, which added a little more frustration, but once we got to Kobe things went a lot easier than anticipated. We met Kimberly & Mitsuko, took care of paperwork, went to the warehouse, then went to Central Station for a great lunch. K & M left, & Mike & I shopped for a little while.
Then we went back to Himeji, loaded up the rest of my stuff to go to Mike's house. Mike went on and I stayed at the apartment and gave it a final cleaning.
I walked to M's to drop off some stuff, gave some mail and a key to Paul, then went to B's where I've been since.
Wednesday I stayed at B's all day. Resa & I redecorated the living room. She changed it from mauve & blue to Mauve & country green, so most of the day I repainted blue wooden things green, hung curtains, & set up little groupings of things. I also packed up 3 more boxes to ship home. In the evening we watched videos.
Thursday I shopped, mailed boxes, pd. bills, got a haircut, and then M's & I went to Royal Host for lunch. After lunch I walked to American Dream, then went to the park behind the castle & sat by the moat & on the moat wall & relaxed. On the other side of the moat was a solitary cherry blossom tree in full bloom. It was gorgeous.
At 5:30 I met Tomoko, Tomomi, Michiyo, Kanako, and Yukako. We saw "Dead Poet's Society" (excellent!), then went to a snack shop.
Then I went back to B's.
Friday I got up & around & met Mika at 31. We had lunch & shopped a little, then went to Hinomoto. I had a faculty meeting, then they had a farewell party for Soma (in the office), Mike M., and I. It was nice, & I felt a little sincerity from the group as a whole, until it was over and most of them just got up & left without saying anything to anyone. I guess it was just another required meeting! Haruko, M., Nobu, Machiko & Sakai, Koji, M., and Matsuo-san said goodbye, though. I guess those are the only people I really wanted to say goodbye to anyway.
After the farewell meeting, Nobu dropped me off by my old apartment. Then I took a bus downtown, then another bus to the B's.
The Lord blessed me that day because the 70,000 yen I thought I would be getting as my retirement money ended up being 230,000 yen, and I got some unpublished material from Word Records to look over for use in a project (demo tape). They typed my name on the tape & wrote a contact name for me, and it was very encouraging. If it's God's will I hope it works out!
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