Updates: Not a lot going on

Hi folks!

So, it has been a long time since I posted any updates. All is well; I've been keeping busy, but not doing anything so terribly interesting that I felt like writing about it. School has been pretty enjoyable so far this semester. I'm finding that even if I go to school feeling tired or grumpy, I usually cheer up pretty quickly once I'm in the classroom with the students. I don't remember that always being the case, so maybe I'm finally adjusting to this job. It only took me about three years...

There are a few interesting things coming up in the near future. This weekend, I'll be going rafting with a group of friends. We're going to Oboke Gorge, which is an amazingly beautiful area. We'll be taking a guided half-day raft tour. If I remember correctly, there should be some whitewater, but nothing dangerous. In any case, it should be exciting. The weather has been getting cooler but it's still warm enough during the day that it shouldn't be too unpleasant. And since rafting in Idaho usually tends to involve freezing cold water,  my expectations are such that it'll likely turn out to be more comfortable than what I'm used to.

The other big event coming up is the Halloween party at Hirome Ichiba. The girls and I have been working on our costumes; a whole bunch of us are going to be zombified Disney princesses. Some of the others are actually making their costumes from scratch, but I bought a base dress and have been sewing extra details onto it. I'm going to be Rapunzel, strangled with her own hair. We've each put a good deal of thought into our manner of death. My dress itself probably won't be that recognizable, but once I get the long blonde wig I figure it should be pretty obvious who I'm intended to be. I'm hoping it'll come soon so I can get to work braiding it, figuring out whether it's long enough to tie like a noose, and gluing some plastic flowers into it. I've already been messing around with Halloween makeup, and I think I've got some good colors of eye shadow for creating fake bruises. I wasn't expecting to be able to find an appropriately hideous shade of yellowish green, but it turns out they do sell that here. Way to go, Nyx cosmetics. I can't imagine ever using it as normal makeup, though.

I haven't seen Tatsuya since we celebrated his birthday, so after two weeks of no contact, I sent him a text message to make sure he was still alive. It sounds like school has been unusually stressful since Sports Day, but soon it'll be time for midterms, and then he thinks he'll have more free time. I've been preoccupied enough with other things recently that it really hasn't bothered me not seeing or hearing from him in so long. But  maybe next time I see him, I'll ask him to send me a message now and then, even when we don't have time to get together. He pretty much only sends me a message or calls if he wants to invite me to do something, so when he's really busy, I don't hear from him at all. But I would like it better if he would occasionally send me a message just to say hi and let me know how he's doing. Anyhow, I'll be happy to see him again, but in the mean time I'm pretty content doing my own thing.

I can't think of anything else of great interest that has happened recently, so I'll leave it at that. I'm pretty shocked that it's October already. I'm enjoying the beautiful weather these past few days, but I hate to think of how soon winter will come. I'm just going to keep pretending that fall will continue indefinitely.