Week 14

Tuesday last week I went with two of my friends who just got engaged to do some engagement photography for them. We started at Osaka Castle before moving to Gion (the 'geisha district' of Kyoto) and Fushimi-Inari Shrine (home to thousands of orange Torii gates.) We had good weather, a relaxed pace, and the photos came out pretty good for the most part, so I'd say it was a successful day.

Wednesday I was supposed to go to the Hanshin Tiger's season opener versus the Chunichi Dragons but the game was canceled out of respect for those suffering from the after effects of last month's quake. This is the second big event that I've been looking forward to that's been canceled out of 'respect'. I know it lacks empathy at some level but I fail to truly see why I have to 'suffer' just because others are suffering. It didn't quite make up for the missed game but a big group of [foreigners/friends/co-workers] got together on Wednesday night for a big send-off party for some of the people who are moving back home in the near future. We went to out favorite neighborhood Izakaya (Japanese 'pub') and enjoyed ourselves until closing time.

Thursday was the last day of the 2010-2011 contract year and went out with a busy night of teaching "Web" lessons. Friday brought the new contract and a lazy day of teaching a few lessons (as a substitute teacher, my regular Friday gig starts in late April.) Saturday I went to my first "real" shift of the new contract (which went well.)

Yesterday (Sunday) I had my first new "Web" shift of the contract (another busy day too) and it went fairly smoothly. Last night my girlfriend came over, made dinner (Mmmm Taco-Rice), and helped me study Japanese for a while.

I've got a late shift today (4:30-11:00pm) so I've got all afternoon to study and clean the apartment before I've got to go into work. The forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday is warm and Sunny, so perhaps I'll go out and about and take some pictures of the cherry trees (which are in full bloom right now.)