Typhoon

So, at the moment we are experiencing a typhoon in Kochi. Right now it's just a heavy rain, but during the middle of the day there were very strong winds as well. This typhoon also resulted in surf camp being canceled last weekend. There were concerns that it would cause large waves which would be unsafe for beginners to attempt to surf, so they called it off.

However, Saturday was still a hot and sunny day, so Amy organized a beer float instead. We all floated down the Shimanto River on pool inflatables of various shapes and sizes. Most of them were tubes, but there was also an inflatable kiddie pool used as a raft. Last summer Jamie apparently used an inflatable lobster. The Shimanto River was very calm and slow, so a ten minute drive upstream took about an hour or an hour and a half to float back down. The water was incredibly warm, maybe warmer than some pools. It was a really beautiful day. Thanks to copious amounts of sunscreen, I managed to escape without a sunburn. I may have even tanned a little. All in all, it was a great afternoon.

I spent the rest of the weekend in the city with Julie and Sasha. We did some shopping, and I helped Julie move a small couch into her apartment. She found it at Hard Off, kind of a thrift store. It was actually more of a love seat than a sofa, so it wasn't particularly hard to lift. The entertaining part was shuffling down what resembled a garden path behind the apartment building to get it to her sliding door.

Although surf camp didn't pan out, this turned out to be a relaxing three day weekend. Tomorrow (if school isn't canceled again due to typhoon) will be the closing ceremony at one of my base schools, and after that summer vacation begins. For me this means I'll be sitting around at the Board of Education each day. But summer vacation is also the season for traveling, and I'm starting off with a weekend trip to Osaka with Julie and Sasha. We're planning on getting in some dancing, shopping, and a visit to Spa World, a public onsen with themed baths. I'm really looking forward to it.