Mayfest

This is my last week at a visiting school and I am so excited to be back in Ishimine next week and to get back to a normal schedule! I miss my base schools a lot and traveling to new schools all over the city is really hard. I saw one of my students from Shinozaki (my original base school) at the grocery store this week and he was very happy to see me! He asked when I was coming back and knowing my students miss me makes me want to go back all the more. Asakawa is treating me well, but I can't wait to get back to my base schools.

This week had some up and downs for me. I had some fun nights out and about in Kokura, but a good friend of mine had to be hospitalized. She called an ambulance Friday morning and I spent much of Friday night and Saturday afternoon visiting her. She has to stay in the hospital for at least a week. She may need surgery depending on how her recovery goes. She gave us all a bit of a scare, but she should be okay and hopefully next week I'll be able to tell you she's out of the hospital and back to normal!

This week also had some baffling night life. In 勝山公園 (Katsuyama Koen, Katsuyama Park) there are tents set up along the river selling beer for Oktoberfest. The JETs have nicknamed this event Mayfest for obvious reasons. Despite the odd timing the event is quite nice, if not a bit expensive. I walked through the maze of tents and sat beside the river. My friends were busy that night and although I didn't get any expensive beers it was a really nice atmosphere, especially now that the nights are so warm.

I also went to the symphony orchestra practice for the first time. They are singing songs from My Fair Lady and although most have been translated to Japanese, there are a few lines still in English. I sang it for them and we had a mini pronunciation lesson. It was a lot of fun and although I could only stay for 45 minutes, I hope to go back!

After the practice I raced over to meet my friends in a pub owned by a British couple. Juha had found out about a pub quiz in English there. Everyone pays 200円 as an entrance fee and the winners take the pot. It's really cheap and a lot of fun! Juha, Kyoko, Leah, and I were a team. We didn't win, but we want to go back next month to try again!

I know this has a been a short post, but not much excitement has been happening here. The weather has gotten quite warm and very humid (over 90% humidity almost every day). Next weekend I'm hoping to go to a flower show with Leah and Caol is talking about having a mojito party similar to his sangria party last week. I want to have a "Welcome Home Out of the Hospital" diner for Kikumi by next weekend, I really hope she's out of the hospital by then. one more week until I'm back at my normal schools and honestly I just hope this week goes by fast.