I don’t know if I mentioned this, but in the same post that accompanied this new site layout, when discussing the meaning of the name, I linked to an article on msnbc.com by a man living in Tokyo who claimed that Japan is losing its Japan-ness (I disagree–rural Japan is such a different place than the huge urban sprawl, and if he’s spent any time in any rural part of Japan, he would think differently). Well, on an accompanying page to the article, in what I’m assuming is kind of like a more selective trackback, they linked back to my entry. I’ve gotten a few hits off there, but forgot all about it until I got a couple more today. Pretty cool!
I actually had a full workday today, due to members of the PTA coming to watch classes (they didn’t come to either of mine), but we get tomorrow off in compensation. I think my week’s officially been thrown off whack now. It would’ve been nice to have 2 consecutive days to rest up (I want to finally get off my lazy butt and start moving unnecessary stuff into the bigger apartment, which I still haven’t moved into, so tomorrow won’t exactly be restful either)–but it’s nice to know that I sort of have a disjointed 4-day week this week. And then next week, I only work Monday and Tuesday, and Louise is coming down (and escaping the snow–yes, it’s still snowing in Tohoku) on Wednesday!
And though I haven’t officially booked my tickets, I’m about 80% sure that I’ll be back in Atlanta during or around the week of June 16-24. My family’s traveling after that, and tickets in July are considerably more expensive, plus I don’t want to miss the farewell get-togethers and whatnot for my departing ALT friends. I found a deal on Orbitz and want to see if I can get an even better one through No. 1 Travel, but they’re closed Sundays. (I’ve had to keep reminding myself that today is indeed Sunday…argh, this is so messed up.) To my friends back home: I really hope you’ll be in town and available! I want to see as many of you as I can.
By the way, my stomach’s doing all right–it was really bad last Sunday, but had become manageable Monday; I went to the doctor, and it turns out it was something out of the ordinary, and was on meds for a few days, and returned to work Wednesday. I wanted to take it easy on my stomach, but I had enkais on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and went into town for Open Mic Night on Friday. (And Open Mic went really well–I’m really happy with my performance, and though our crowd was sparse, they were really into it, and we all got a lot of applause.)
I haven’t seen Chalice in a few days…I should go knock on her door after I make something to eat and see how she’s doing, settling in and managing on her own in a new town. Hannah’s out this weekend, and I was gone through yesterday afternoon, then felt exhausted and not really up to dealing with other people (though going for a long walk in the cool, foggy aftermath of the evening’s rain did help–I also rented a few movies for this week, one animated tragedy (Hotaru no Haka/Grave of the Fireflies; I haven’t seen it before) and two comedies (Father of the Bride and Sister Act–I was thrilled to find that our video store does stock both), and today I had to work. I guess it’s time to assume the role that Lindsay very steadfastly assumed for both Hannah and myself 9 months ago.