Hotel Taikanso Matsushima

... who works at the BOE, and two veteran ALTs who gave us a good rundown of Tome.

As we kept driving, I noticed a prominent feature of Miyagi (and Tome): Rice fields!
A lot.
No really.
A LOT.

It gives a real feeling that you're very far "out in the country" which I suppose I am in a way, but its also very pretty! Lots of green, and it reminded me of how beautiful of a country Japan is.

We finally arrived, and I got a quick ...

... a more casual outfit. Hiroto has adopted a really mature rocker style. His hair reminds me of a broom (Shou’s words) though. XD I don’t remember what Nao’s outfit was like, but he got a haircut (which he talked about in his MC).

Highlights included headbanging like crazy to the **********gs, whipping out my light for “Fantasy” and “Subaru”, and getting to hear their new single, “Hana”. It ...

I've arrived in Sendai. Last night I stayed up really late packing and cleaning, and I continued to do it in the morning. Lots of people visited when it was close to move-out time either to say goodbye or to do business. I sent off two bags via takyubin to Tokyo. It was good thing I had help since it was pouring like crazy. Mrs. K's omiyage were based on wordplay (could Michael X be rubbing off on her ...

... with Japanese people or that I’m getting old. It was harder for me to converse with the Southlake students than I thought (I had an easier time with the chaperones). It was pouring so Yuki’s mother offered to give me a ride back to the apartment.

Today I was in packing hell. At first I thought I would have lots of space, but that’s not really true. Being a pack rat really sucks sometimes. Worse is when you’re a ...

... characters. She wasn’t as friendly though. Mika ran into a couple of her students, which freaked her out. Her cosplay secret is out of the bag now. =^.^=

I missed the bus back to Toyoma so I decided to go straight to Sanuma instead. That meant no wearing a yukata at the Natsu Matsuri for me. :( I was going to meet Kavita and Rachelle at Kavita’s apartment, but I ran out of steam walking to her place ...

Friday night was my last cheap karaoke outing. T_T I'm really gonna miss it.

Saturday morning I got up at 6 AM to catch the bus to Sanuma because I was going to play taiko. Only there was no bus. I wound up calling a cab and being one of the first people at the place. The people in the group weren’t very friendly. Eventually the women warmed up to me, but the guys were ...

... I am told so we sadly just moved on to a Chinese restaurant. It was really good Chinese food, I had a Cashew Chicken and the owners spoke better english then most Japanese since they were really Chinese.

Just as we were finishing an older man came in and sat at the table next to us, he started talking to Anna about Michael Jackson and then made a comment about my outfit. I was wearing a sundress that god forbid ...

The other day, I had to convince the bank that I was not a con artist. They had issues over the fact that my alien registration card has my last name first (as it usually is here) while my bank account is under my name as it is in America. >_< I saw The Dark Knight again today. A group of us (ALTs and associates) went to the movie theater in the Ishinomaki Aeon shopping center. There, I ...

... rush at the train station. I had expected the sea of rushing people, but it was still overwhelming. So many people moving so quickly! However, I love how everything is so clean here and everyone is so polite and reserved. I'm already feeling bold in comparison, which could be a good or a bad thing. I still feel like this is a dream that I will wake-up from tomorrow and that once I wake, I'll be in ...

... You can see the bay from our windows. This hotel also has public baths which we decide to indulge in before dinner. So, we don the yakatas (cotton robe) left in the room for us and head to our separate baths. You must wash fully before entering the bath. So, you do this at a little stall with a showerhead, mirror and stool. Once you are sure you have completely rinsed all soap off of your body you may enter the bath. The bath is a shallow pool of hot water. It ...