Took a day trip to Hamamatsu, in Shizuoka-ken. Took about two hours to get there, had some うな重, basically the same thing as Una-don, only it was square instead of round.

So people might have been wondering if I passed my most recent kanji test or not. See for yourself:

Circles are correct, X's are incorrect -'s are, I'm not sure - couldn't read, maybe? Yes, I failed this time. Just five points short. My weaknesses were synonyms/antonyms and find the incorrect character. I have to take it again now...

Here I am from last weekend wearing a yukata. A yukata is basically a summer version of Japanese traditional clothes. I didn't do it quite right. Like you're not supposed to wear a T-shirt underneath. And I didn't know how to tie the belt, so I just made something up. But of course everybody praises you because it's Japan and that's what they do. It turned out, at this yukata party, only four people wore yukatas. And only one male. And only one gaijin. Guess who that was. Me.

From 浴衣パーティー2009年7月25日

But I did win a prize, sort of. Here's the story: three winning tickets for yukata-wearers, four people. The first two I didn't win. The last one, a bottle of wine. He pulls out the ticket - I won! I was so proud. But later on, the guy drawing the tickets comes up to me - he's a friend of mine - and confided in me that he actually pulled the other person's name, but then switched it, so that I would win. I felt really bad, so I went up to the other yukata wearer and told her that she should really have the wine, since she really won it. But then she said, don't give it to me now, but how about next weekend over dinner? OK, so what I really won is a date. OK, that's cool. Here's the kicker. Later that night, at the sanjikai (third party), I went into this really crowded bar. Too crowded for my tastes, but I had accidentally set the bottle of wine down just before I decided to leave. So today I had to go out and buy the exact same bottle of wine in order to give it to the woman.

We had a nice time. Will probably go out again.

This is my life here.

Last weekend I went to Osaka for a couple of days to visit a former colleague who will be moving to San Francisco at the end of the month. Even though this is like the fifth time I've visited Osaka, it's the first time I've eaten authentic Osaka-style okonomiyaki and takoyaki. The okonomiyaki place we went to was absolutely incredible. Lot's of fat and salt and all kinds of good ingredients.

大阪2009年7月

Today I took the Kanjikentei level 4. Now, an interesting thing about the Kanjikentei these days is that, just like almost every other organization in Japan, there is a scandal. Apparently the founder of the society along with several members of his family set up some companies to illegally do business with each other and thereby profit handsomely off all of us trusting test-takers. The latest I've heard is that the society has been taken over by some lawyers who have promised to make reforms within 100 days.

So, here's what I received in the mail yesterday, the day before I took the test:

A registered letter, basically a notice that they're lowering all the fees because of the scandal, they apologize profusely, of course, and hope we can continue to participate in the future. And here's a refund of 200 yen for this round of tests. Woo hoo!

In actuality, I don't really care very much about this scandal. What's new, you know. But apparently about 30% fewer people are taking this round of tests. And the number of kids there today bore that out.

As for the test itself, just like with level 5, it will be very very close as to whether I pass or not. It's exactly how close I am to my thinking whether I should leave or stay here a while longer. I am really torn. Like the difference between 139 and 140 points torn.

My friend and former coworker will be moving to San Francisco this coming August. I am very excited for her, as this is a big, important life change.

If anyone has any leads on places to live (preferably in or around the Mission), and/or a place to crash for a week while she gets her bearings, drop me a line.

UPDATE: she has a place to crash now. If anyone has any leads on an apartment, though, that would be cool.

Changed the look of the blog a bit. Basically just because I decided to update b2evolution. This stuff is getting easier and easier all the time.

*Sigh* I like it here in my only little world, away from the noise on Facebook, MySpace, etc. Yes, there is the little Twitter thing over on the site, I know. Just enjoying the peace.

Hanami season started a little while ago already. As you've seen, over the years I've taken a lot of pictures of the cherry blossoms. This year, when I went to Ogaki, of course, there were a few flowers already. The street I live on got about a three-week head start over the rest of the city.

花見2009/03/07

Just this past weekend, however, even though I've lived here for over three years now, I actually went to my first hanami party. You know, with the blue vinyl tarps and the hanging around and drinking.

2009-03-29 お花見

Even though Meijo koen was only at about 30% full bloom, and it was rather cold and windy for a late March Sunday, it was a perfect time out. It all ended with a trip to the karaoke box, the quintessential ending to such an affair.

When I don't know what to do, I'll pick a random city on the map of Japan and make a short visit. Today, I went to Handa, a short trip down the Chita peninsula. Apparently, the only thing this city has is a vinegar museum and a sake museum, both of which were already closed by the time I got there. Oh, and I guess several scenes from Akira Kurosawa's first film, "Sugata Sanshiro" were filmed there. That's ok, the weather was perfect Icelandic weather - overcast, with a slight hint of rainy mist. I really love this kind of weather, because you can see in every direction clearly without the aid of sunglasses. Around the Mazkan vinegar plant you can really smell the vinegar, of course.

On the way home, I took some pictures of the love hotels I see every time I ride my bike home from work.

Oh, and today was Setsubun, so I celebrated by eating a piece of uncut makizushi facing the lucky direction for the year, south-southeast.

半田

Last year, I didn't really get a chance to see kouyou, or the autumn leaves of Japan. This year, my friend Hiromi and I were able to go to　香嵐渓, a place here in Aichi, about 2 hours from Nagoya where we could really see the full brunt of it. Yes, it was really crowded with a lot of people taking pictures, but it was still really pleasant, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. It's stuff like this that I'm really lucky to be in Japan for.

2007 紅葉