Alone time

Just got back from a day of Kari. It was nice. To have the whole day to myself and no one to really bother me. I stayed up til 2:30 talking to Mom via Skype and decided to sleep in. I was going to go for my run when I woke up, but I was hungry so I made french toast instead (much better choice). Charged up my iPod and headed out for a day in the town.

It was nice. Just listened to some jams with no agenda except to come and make hamburgers and fries for dinner. I stopped at Posful and just wandered around. Bought a few things, grabbed a snack, and then headed over to Jusco. Then I got excited.

Each Japanese region has certain...specialty food items. More like snack items you give as gifts. So in Hokkaido they have these little square cookies with white chocolate in between. You can only buy them in Hokkaido. Which makes them special. So usually when you go on a trip, you bring back a box of the "regional snack" to share with everyone. So at Jusco today, they had KYOTO food! I LOVE KYOTO FOOD! Mostly because they have chocolate manju. Manju is like mochi, but softer and sweeter. But these are filled with like a chocolate truffle on the inside. Since it was a day for Kari, I splurged and bought a box. It was pretty much the highlight of my day.

Last night I got really frustrated. It was Friday night after my first week of teaching. I was exhausted, I still had work I wanted to get done before the weekend, and I was looking forward to making my hamburgers and fries and just listening to country music and relaxing for the evening. But I live in a small village and everyone knows where I live. I literally walked in the door from my run and this lady was like "Please come my house now! (there was more said but I couldn't understand it)". I was like "I just came home from running. I'm sweaty." She replied, "Okay, shower and eat dinner and I'll come back in an hour." So I close the door, try to figure out what's going on, and then someone else rings my doorbell. This guy is like "Please come my house now! (there was more said but I couldn't understand it)". I was like "I just came back from running. I'm sweaty. And this other lady already said she's coming to get me in an hour." He replied, "Okay, shower and eat dinner and go see her and then come my house afterwards." My restful evening at home ended up being a night spent at some lady's house talking about the Japanese economic situation and various Japanese alcohols with her husband and then hanging out with the mountain climbing club in someone's garage. But it ended with talking to Mom for 2 hours on Skype, so I can't really complain all that much. But sometimes, I just need alone time.