Hisashiburi~ (Long time no see!)

Hello!
I haven't been posting a lot lately, but I thought I'd just share some minor updates. I've got a little over a month until I move back to Idaho, and I'm in the middle of clearing junk out of my apartment. I've thrown away more clothes than one person could possibly have any reason to own, and now I'm down to a reasonable amount of stuff to ship home. Most of my belongings should fit into two or three large boxes and a suitcase. I guess that's the nice thing about living in a semi-furnished apartment; I don't have to sell or move anything especially large, like furniture. And I'll be leaving some of my belongings to my successor.

Recently I've started having the first of many "lasts". Last week I had my last visit to an elementary school that I used to visit pretty frequently. I'll miss the students and teachers there, and also the school parakeet. We're at the start of my last rainy season in Japan, though I won't miss that, aside from the hydrangeas blooming. But I think it won't become real to me until I have my final junior high school visits in July, and especially until I move out of my apartment. That will probably be the hardest part, since it has been my home for the last four years. Aside from the house I grew up in, that's the longest I've lived anywhere.

In the remaining month, I'm trying to spend plenty of time with my Kochi friends. I've been running around with Cat and Ashley a lot recently, and last week Ashley and I saw a movie called "Wood Job". I'm not even translating that; the actual title of the movie was "Wood Job". It was surprisingly good, though. Anyhow, there are a number of social events planned for the upcoming weeks, and I'm grateful that there's a tradition of goodbye parties in July. Mary and I are considering having a joint birthday party on the okyaku densha, which is essentially a streetcar you can rent for group parties. You get to drink beer and eat while the tram driver takes you around Kochi City. I really hope we can make that one happen. But even if that doesn't work out, there's a club night planned for July 4th, and we'll actually have our own DJs so we can play dance music! As opposed to trance or house, which seem to be the standards here. So there's plenty to look forward to in the next few weeks.