...and then there was heat.

Hydrangeas - the rainy season flower - now line the streets of Tsu.

We've come full circle, people. You may remember a post or two dated almost a year ago in which I bemoaned the unbearable heat of Japan. Well, it's back. It has been for about two weeks now, and that, combined with the unbelievable busy-ness I've found myself immersed in, has left me constantly sleepy and more than a little unmotivated.

How have I overcome this sleepiness and lack of motivation? The stark reality that the new teachers will arrive at the end of this week.

What?! I'll be in America - for good - in less than a month. One of the things I've been so busy with is writing up profiles on each of my students that I can give to the new teachers to prep them for taking over my classes. I've also been prepping a couple of presentations I'll be giving as I help with the new teacher training and orientation. Life here is speeding up as everything begins to wind down, and my schedule is filling with goodbye lunches and dinners and parties. It's an exciting time, especially for the OBC and the new teachers (who I'm so excited to meet), but also a sad one. I will miss all of my students very, very much.

However, I don't want to get too sappy quite yet (stay tuned in the next few weeks if you want the play-by-play on those emotions). Instead, how about: HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! This is the first time I've spent this holiday out of the country, as one of my students pointed out to me earlier, and actually one of the first I can remember where I haven't been with my family and the DeBoers and/or Mulders. And of course, like most of my American holidays this year, it has come and gone without much to note. For lunch, I met up with my sister friends at the monastery. I walked in and one of them who speaks the least English professed very proudly to me, "Happy Independence Day." That was worth it. We had delicious baked chicken (so good), and I even made some homemade pudding to share! (Aren't you proud of me, dad?) Tonight, I taught my high level students about the history of the day, and coupled with the current MN state shutdown, we had a very interesting "freedom" conversation.

One thing I will miss.

I was pretty busy this past weekend, actually. On Saturday, I got up early and walked up to the Catholic school connected to the monastery near my apartment for their annual bazaar. My sister friend invited me and gave me tons of free food tickets. I tried a corn dog, yakisoba (grilled noodles), kakigori (shaved ice), and the famous St. Joseph's donuts. It was a really fun little school festival and felt very much like the kind of festival I'd be celebrating at Independence Park in Marshall.

On Sunday, I had my farwell party with my Tuesday morning students. These ladies are the best. One of them, who I was especially fond of, had to quit a couple months ago because of her busy work schedule, but she was able to join us on Sunday. I found out that she'll actually be returning to OBC in the next few weeks, which is great. I'm so glad I'll be able to see her for me last few weeks here.

We went to the home of one of the students for a Japanese tea ceremony. She is a tea ceremony instructor, and she is very good. One of my other students is actually studies tea ceremony from her, and we tease the instructor often about being a "devil teacher." But she put on her "angel teacher" face for me and was very patient. She even let me stir the tea! The one who studies tea ceremony owns a kimono shop, so she dressed me up in yukata (summer kimono) and actually gave it to me to keep. (Their generosity is so humbling.) It was so much fun to sit around with three Japanese women in yukata and laugh and joke. We even wore the yukatas out to lunch! We ate at a Russian restaurant, but I was very Japanese that day. I'm going to treasure the memories I have with those ladies. They are just a delight.

Stirring the tea!

The angel teacher and the kimono shop owner.

And of course, no blog update would be complete without filling you all in on the wonderful visitors I had two weeks ago. My dear friends Heather and Tom visited Tsu, and then I tagged along with them to Kyoto. Heather and I went to college together, and Tom - her fiance - is actually an English teacher in Aomori (northern Japan). She came to visit him, and they swung down to my neck of the woods for a taste of the heartland. I had a blast showing them around my little corner of the world. We took in a Shakespeare-ish show, had dinner at my student's restaurant, experienced the melting pOt, navigated Kyoto (unscathed!) and did lots of catching up. I can't tell you all how good it felt to have some of "my people" (a phrase I couldn't stop using) around for a while. It made me that much more excited to return to the other heartland. Thanks so much for coming, you two!

Excellent "Welcome to Tsu" party

Reunited at last.

One of the most relaxing afternoons I've had in a long time.

As always, dear friends, take care. I really will be seeing you soon!