The wonderful world of Pocky. What the hell is “rare cheesecake?” Is it infrequent or undercooked? Also, one box of Panda Pocky has the Morpheus Panda on it. Whoa. I wonder if it knows kung fu…
I find myself curious about the next few weeks. School finishes tomorrow. Regular teachers continue working save for a week off at Obon, but I’m free for four and a half weeks. I’ll definitely miss classes. When I come back, I’ll only have 10 weeks of school before my contract expires. It’s time to start making some decisions.
Cup ‘o Noodles goes green. Buy a cup and restock it with packages of the noodles. Totally sweet. This went in my cart.
Of course, it’s not like I’ll have nothing to do over the summer break. I’m going to Shimane prefecture for several days of research. I need to return to Kobe to scout locations for Seraph and Apotheosis. I want to visit Nara and Hiroshima. Somewhere in the midst of that I want to work on rewrites for Assassins and try to get that published in September.
I have no idea what the hell this is. It looks like a purple ninja salaryman. It’s selling grape gummies.
Totally got time on my hands.
Now that I think about it, I don’t know when the hell I’m going to find time to do laundry, much less all this work. Still, this is the big perk for my trip to Japan. A month of free time during which I can do the groundwork for two different novels? I’ll take it! If I’d taken the month off from a job, I’d have paid through the nose for airfare, hotels, and expenses, whereas I’m actually working right now, and I can ameliorate the costs by hunting and pecking.
Also, rice and ramen are cheap. Pretty sure that’s all I can afford to eat the rest of my time in Japan. Le sigh.
Still, it’s been a fun few months. I’ve made good impressions at school (I won’t presume to call them friendships), and learned a lot. I love the way kindnesses are reciprocated as part of the culture. Also, the food’s pretty amazing here. The staff had a late lunch planned (apparently), which I found out about 45 minutes before I was to leave. I explained that I needed to deliver some medicine, so I was asked to come to the cooking room (apparently we have one of those, too) in 30 minutes.
Two women just whipping up an amazing lunch for 60+ teachers. You know, like you do.
I did as asked and was treated to a very tasty bowl of somen. Perfect for the insufferably hot days we’re having.
Somen – perfect for insufferably hot days. See, Mom! I’m totally eating vegetables.
So, that’s what’s up and what’s coming up.
