spring break 30

30.sunday
i woke up this morning and actually cleaned some. i still have a pile of dishes in the sink and clothes that are still huddling in piles on my bedroom floor, but there was progress made.

then i met Chelsea in akihabara a little after noon. i bought a camera case. and an ipod cover. and funky headphones. she came over to get a memory card i said i'd give her. we got in a minor tiff. it was stupid. i took the heater on my own will but it felt like she was trying to "outdo" my bad situation with her version of moving the heater. when i said "you're not going to get sympathy from me," she shot it right back at me. i got pissed and upset and said "i never said it was your fault. mostly i just don't want to talk about it. i'm mad at myself for taking it; i'm not blaming you. i'm mad about my suitcase but i'm not mad AT YOU about my suitcase, so just drop it." she got emotional too and the two of us were just sort of pathetic. but, i tend to think she was just hung over from her farewell party last night and has been on a nonstop schedule of going out, working, saying goodbye, entertaining friends, packing up her life here for the last 2 or 3 weeks and i felt like maybe i got the short end of the straw.

but whatever.

finally we said goodbye. it doesn't feel real and i don't think it will for a week or two when i don't actually see her like usual.

i then had an invite from a teacher at school to come over to her house. i didn't feel like it. but i knew if i just sat at home all afternoon i'd feel even worse. she picked me up at the station and when we got to her house, her mom made me some green tea. the "real" kind that they whip up in the big tea "bowls." it was actually better than i ever remember it being. another teacher was there too and a third arrived shortly after me. all of us (the 3 women and their children: 9, 8, and 2) loaded into the van and went out for okonomiyaki.

i am not a shrimp/octopus/strange sea creature fan but that's the great thing about okonomiyaki; there are so many kinds that you just pick one with the things you like in it. (okonomi means something like "as you like" or "one's preference/liking") the one i ordered came with diced tomatoes to be put on top after it's cooked, which i have never seen before. it was different, but since i'm not a fan of the nori sprinkles or katsuobushi, the normal toppings, it was perfect for me! for dessert i had white peach sherbert, served in a frozen hollowed-out half of a peach bowl.

the two year old was absolutely adorable. he made me want a kid. for about three hours. then i'd want to return him to his home. haha. it was fun to see the teachers with their kids. and in an environment other than school.

i am now trying to finish up packing for my trip to kyushu. i have to leave the house in the morning at 5:55. yikes, i'd better get moving!