I struggle with forward motion

So I think I'm going to take a page out of my friend Shar's book (here's her blog - she lives in Japan too and her posts are much more organized than mine haha, so check her blog out!) and just try to update on what I've been doing recently.  I'll post about what I did in the time I wasn't blogging at all later, because catching up seems almost impossible at this point...  Shar calls them Lost Blogs, and I won't steal her term, but it'll be the same idea, I suppose.  As a result, I will post about what I've done since April 29, since I posted on that day, rather than going all the way back to mid-March (TWO MONTHS AGO oh my gosh ;___;  Did I really used to post every day...?).

To those who say helpful things such as "Your blog isn't going to write itself," *coughDADcough*, I hope this will suffice for the time being.  Sheesh, what a whiner.  (I love my dad, I promise I do.)

One thing I failed to mention in my previous post was that, at the place where the seikai (conference) was held, there were some huge, awesome koi nobori flying outside. Koi nobori, or carp banners, I guess is how you'd translate it, can be seen flying throughout Japan during April and early May in observance of Children's Day (traditionally Boys' Day), which is during Golden Week in early May (more on Golden Week later). Since Shar actually did research on why they fly these banners, I'm going to quote her here (you can read her whole blog post about Ise Shrine here):

"The tradition of carp streamers began in the Edo Period based on a Chinese legend about a strong, brave carp swimming upstream who turned into a dragon. Streamers were also flown by samurai in battle. This is why the carp streamers symbolize strength, power, and success in life."

Anyway, here are some pictures.  They're pretty cool!

SATURDAY, 4/30

Becky and some friends started a returnees group here in Mie Prefecture, basically where girls who have spent time overseas can hang out together.  Five of us went to visit Kyoto!  It was my second time there (since I went on my first Saturday in Japan), and this time we mostly walked around and checked out some shops and stuff, so it was pretty chill.

A shrine we just happened to stop by, evidently dedicated to a samurai who killed himself because he didn't want anyone else to kill him.  Um, okay.

Interesting curry rice from this all-natural restaurant place we happened across.

Sorry it's kinda blurry, but.  This is a tiny octopus with a quail egg inside of its head.  It was so interesting, I had to try it!  It was pretty good!

Yummy~

This is apparently a famous river in Kyoto.  I don't know the name though.

From the front, Noriko, Takako, Becky, and Shouko~

Yay I got to be in a picture too!

There were still some cherry blossoms hanging on!

In Gion, a district of Kyoto.  This is the entrance to a really historic area.

It was kind of crazy, such an old place in the middle of such a modern place.  If you're lucky, you can see maiko (geishas-in-training) here sometimes.

A view down a side street.  There was a girl in a kimono~

Back in the modern part of town.  Some kind of temple.  It's so bright!

Too bad I didn't get a picture of one of these rickshaw guys in action.  They're apparently nice enough to take your picture in prime locations haha.

So later, after we came back to Mie Prefecture from Kyoto, we went to a pretty cool restaurant (Saigon Cafe or something like that?) that serves various kinds of Asian dishes.  Everything was really, really good!

SUNDAY, 5/1

We had a surprise party at Carol's house for our student and friend Akifumi-san today.  His wife apparently told him they were going out to dinner with her parents haha.  He must've gotten suspicious when they like, picked up a couple of friends on their way over...but yeah.  

Carol is never short on enthusiasm.

Akifumi-san getting ready to blow out his candles~

Yummy~

Ahaha definitely not a perfect picture, but it'll have to do.  We had a lot of fun playing games and chatting~

MONDAY, 5/2

So, um, I apparently haven't changed much since college, because I'd known since like Christmas or something that I needed to read a biography about a missionary to Japan before our summer missionary conference, but.  Yeah.  This being the day before said conference began, I did quite a bit of reading, and put together a rough book report, since all of us had to report on our books during the conference.  So not the most exciting day ever, but that's okay!

TUESDAY 5/3

In the morning we went over to Akifumi-san and his wife, Rieko-san's, house for coffee, snacks, and chatting, which was really nice.  And after that, the missionary summer conference began...BUT I'm going to give that its own post.  

I think this post is long enough for the time being anyway, so I'll write more tomorrow.  :D