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On Friday I caught a train down south to where the JETs in my prefecture gather for an annual "camping" trip. That's in quotes because we rent out fully-furnished, air-conditioned cabins complete with upstairs tatami rooms bigger than mine. Seriously, if I could trade my apartment for one of those babies, I'd do it in a second.
According to some of the second-year peeps, the rainy season was in full swing last year so it was damp and miserable for the whole time. Not so this year! Friday evening was rain-free and the sun was out aaaaall day Saturday, which made it perfect weather for jumping into a freezing mountain river and drying off on the ginormous rocks:
As my cabin was the nerd cabin, we proceeded to watch "The Fifth Element," get pleasantly drunk, and play a couple inebriated rounds of Munchkin, the tabletop-roleplaying card game where the object is to bribe, swindle, and back-stab your way to level 10. I kind of really want to get the Cthonic version of Munchkin. Maybe a Halloween present to myself? We'll see.
Anyway, most of the good pictures are on other peoples' cameras, so I am still waiting to receive them via the webbernets. The best pictures, of course, are all in my brainspace. It was a lovely super-fantastic weekend with awesome people and scenery that could take your breath away. I feel ready to take on the rest of summer in western Japan - it's going to be sticky, and insect-y, and moldy & gross and generally will do all it can to suck the will to live from me, but I will have the wisdom of Dori to keep me afloat.
Although work hasn't been particularly hectic this week, we're getting into that home-stretch before final exams begin Dec. 4th, and it's just starting to drag. I've been feeling real tired this week, yet somehow pressed for relaxation time at night despite the fact that I've been staying in.
So I invoked a well-loved American cultural practice and called in sick today. My one afternoon class had been canceled, so I didn't inconvenience anybody by making them switch the schedule around last-minute. I needed a mental health day. One day where I didn't have to be awake and functioning before 10 am and fry my brain over language barriers, cultural exchange, grammar lessons, or financial matters (although I do plan on getting in touch with an America-based company tonight about setting up a remittance account, so I can send money home WITHOUT paying the $20 fee charged for every transfer by the company I currently have an account with)
Speaking of money, apparently the yen now grows on trees. In such abundance, in fact, that the government is planning on giving me a big sack full of it. That's right, me. According to the news tonight, the ruling party is actually considering drafting measures to include foreign residents in the hand-out bonanza. I'm certainly not hurting for monies, especially considering I'm a teacher, but hoo-damn would I like to get a 12,000 yen cash present from the gub'ment!
Anyway, I had a good stress-purging day; sunny & breezy & warmer than it has been, curry in the fridge ready to get warmed up for dinner, and a couple books to work on, one in the figurative and one in the literal sense - Mom convinced me to do National Novel Writing Month this year, and I've also started crafting a book using supplies I got from this super-nifty book/paper artist's dream-store. I don't think the writing will continue to be stress-reductive, though, once the 15th rolls around and I'll have to somehow pull my word count up to 25,000 if I want to keep on track. But that's not a concern tonight. Tonight I want some of my dark chocolate bar, my electric rug plugged in so my floor-pillows are nice and toasty, and a semi-decent Friday night movie on one of my four TV channels.
