Tachibanaya Tsuruoka

So these are the photos from me and Diana's going away parties over the last 2 days in Akita before we went to Tokyo and then went home. I posted them to facebook but I guess I never put them on here. It was a great party where we had yummy Korean food and lots of laughs and then lots of crying. Everyone cried even the boys, they tried to hide it but we could still tell.

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... leaving while leaving, which is more or less exactly like swallowing wine and sneezing at the same time.

Contents of conversation aside, some of you probably thought this blog would slip into the sewers after I landfell in America. But, this fact couldn't be less truthful, nor could the truth of it be less factual. I intend to continue pondering what it was that I experienced and sharing stories of this time-oriented present. I don't know how well that ...

... since we're Japan and they speak Japanese.
After the museum we checked our watches. Not even noon. Ouch.
We wandered in a direction that seemed vaguely rational at the time (perhaps we thought we saw something that way? I can't remember), and stumbled upon what turned out to be a godsend. Beneath an overpass and next to a railway, sat a sad little playground. It had ...

... I get off at 4:00, I can peddle immediately over to the station and catch the train that leaves at 4:28, leaving a bike that thieves (all 1.3 of them in Akita) wouldn't steal even if it was the last escape from an erupting volcano. Normally I ride my good bicycle so I can show off and wink at the ladies. Once I arrive in Honjo I have to wait for two hours for my Japanese class to start. This is because the next train ...

... my having to reinvent my interests, which is what I do with most beautiful women (i.e. I watched The Notebook with Kurumi-chan a few weeks ago, which was the result of a quite magical reversal on my part into a dubiously heterosexual male who's actually willing to watch The Notebook). And so, if her personality really is the same as mine, I wish she would just admit that the real reason she wears a ...

I am now departing for another long day of riding local trains. I will leave Sakata at 7:51 am and arrive in Hakodate on the northern island of Japan at 10:04 pm. The trains become shorter and fewer the farther north you go in Japan, so I have quite a few hour-long transfers. During that time, I plan to explore whatever city I am in.

... for the first time. A kotatsu is a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source which is often built into the table itself. Since winter in Japan is so cold and most houses do not have very good insulation, this is one of the few warm places that can be found in the winter other than the ...

... others are extremely elaborate. Museums often have elaborate and historical hina matsuri dolls on display during this time as well. A few of the church members that I actually did not know from the first time I was here, took me to a museum and beautiful garden where we saw a variety of historic hina matsuri dolls. Then we enjoyed some time at a local bakery. It was fun and gave me a little more cultural perspective.

... Roykann that wasn't too far away from the train station. I set out, with my pack in tow, to find this place, and hopefully get a room. ***Interesting side note that I forgot to mention earlier. The last day I was in Tokyo, for no reason what so ever, my voice had gotten all scratchy and decided to go. By the time I got to Yamagata the next day, I had completely lost it. As in I could harldy speak at all. Now, this is kind of an odd situation, considering people have ...