Tracey's BBQ

Well sandwiched between those nights was a great BBQ over at Tracey's. She does a splendid job every year and I always look forward to it. Anyway, here are a few shots of Ross, George, Tracey with the giggles, Mike, Pete, Karen and one of the Mel's...how did I miss the other one?? Wendy and Kengo also came ~ so good to see everyone.

A typical night in Koriyama

It really was a great night. As much as I love the internet and chatting online, there is nothing quite like the real thing. It was great catching up with Pete, Ben, Wendy, Melissa, Keiko, Jon, Jo, Joyce, Kengo, Mai, Noah, Tracey, Mike, Ross, George and meeting some new faces too. Sleep wasn't much present ~ but that was to be expected. The company of old friends was more than a good night's sleep could ever provide anyway.

Pete's Engaged! (and back for a visit)

Pete came back for a suprise visit to Koriyama this weekend. Luckily it was the same weekend as Tracey's BBQ and I had already put in for the vacation day! (yay!!) So, fully equipt with flower lays and bubbles, I set out to Koriyama after work on Friday to celebrate Pete and Kanako's engagement. Koriyama is a funny place. Everyone who has left, and comes back every so often (like moi), says the same thing. There's no place like Kori. There's NO place like Kori. It's like coming home. Every time. Friday night I came dangerously close to walking home with a 1 month old kitten. I even named her.....Kori. But Heidi and Mark are both highly allergic, so Kori has to find a home in Kori. But I'll always remember her.

J's Birthday

It was a rare night of gourmet pizza, beer and wine. Sarah joined us up from Yonezawa. Soooo good to (finally!) spend time with her too!

Sleep is overrated

So, I'll just preface this by saying my schedule here is a bit whacked. I always teach right through the dinner hours at work; usually the period from 4pm-9pm is jammed packed. So I make my way home, strip off the suit and put on some comfy clothes, check my email, chat with friends online...and then...around 11:00 it hits me. I get *really* hungry!!! Even though I know it's not healthy to eat before bed and it's an excellent way to gain weight, I snack a little. Well, green tea has been around for centuries and it has wonderful properties that are good for you. Another added benefit is that it absolutely kills your appetite. So I thought, okay, I'll sneak in a sandwich or *something* between classes and then sip some green tea while I'm chatting online. That way the hunger bug won't bite so late at night. Well ~ another ummm ~ aspect ~ of green tea is the caffine content. There are debates whether coffee or green tea has the most. I'm now convinced they are just different. Coffee gives you a nice jolt for about an hour or so, and then you crash. Green tea is a steady sense of alertness that lasts for hours. AND HOURS. Friday night I was up until around 4am just staring at my walls trying to make my brain stop chatting.

Saturday was a day of work and then a train ride to Koriyama for Matt's leaving party. I was a bit tired, but I really wanted to go!! Soooooo at around 9pm I bought a *small* bottle of green tea and sure enough. I didn't fall asleep in my chair. It was a good night packed with good chats, old friends, a random boob shot that was circulating around cell phones (it wasn't mine!), and of course a soccer game. Of course, it was great to see Matt off. He's the redhead from Canada and I know he'll be missed. As for my energy level, I hit a wall sometime around 1am, but then caught a second wind which has us up in the karaoke room until around 5am. I had planned to stay at Melissa's place that night, but I figured I would just go ahead and hop the first bus to Sendai instead.

Usually, I stay all day Sunday and Sunday night as well when I make these trips down, but not this weekend. See...my Yamagata crew has been trying to organise a bbq for weeks and things keep coming up. This time it was the rain! So, we decided to have a potluck instead. Good friends, Heidi and Joe, were also to join us which was great! Especially since Heidi is leaving for a trip to America for several weeks until August 15th. The only thing is, Heidi is allergic to pets and I'm the only one without one. Besides!! I'm hoping to set a trend and have people over a lot more often for game nights, movie nights and the like. It's sooo much fun!!! SO! I had to be back to make sure things were spiffy and presentable. The bus to Sendai took 2 hours from Kori and then another 40 minutes to Yamagata. I slept the whole way and it was a little cheaper than the train. So there I go. Took a few hours nap when I got home and then up to clean and spiff. Thankfully, everyone brought *amazing* food to share!! Sooooo yummy!!!

It was great to see Trenton there, he's going back to the states in August. Joe is an amazing storyteller. I can't believe we spent about an hour talking about toilets, but we did! The squatter potties in Japan are a little awkward to use at first, but you do get used to it. Well ~ they are so awkward for men that it seems easier just to take their pants completely OFF first. As Joe was confessing, all the men in the room were nodding, so there must be some truth to it. Anyway...I don't think the conversation really ever got out of the toilet, tried as we might!! But you know, I'm not complaining. It's good to have people around you feel so open and comfortable with. And boy do we! There seemed to be lots of tongues involved in all of these shots. Watch out or you might actually get licked! We finally called it a night around 3am and it was off to sweet dreamland for this girl.

It was great to see Esther (but I'm sorry I missed yoga this morning...I guess I could've tried the green tea trick again but I think I just needed to sleeeeep), Lisa and Yuta, Jon and Nadine, where were Bryan and Scott?, Jason and Yuri (sorry Yuri, we are just a bunch of bakka gaijin), Joe and Heidi, Esther and Trenton, the lovers, the dreamers and meeee.