Yasumi

PHEW. What a week it's been (has it only been one week?)!
Hanagasa was fantastic! I wore a yukata I bought at Yoku Benimaru Friday during my lunch hour, which I put on all by myself thank-you-very-much! Of course I didn't have any of the ties or anything to keep it together under the obi, but I cut up a towel into a long string and made do with that, haha. It looked pretty decent for my first try at dressing myself in traditional Japanese clothing =) I shouldn't have worn the geta (sandals) that came with it though--five minutes out of the car walking down the street towards the matsuri, I could feel huge blisters spring up under the straps. Not fun at all--they still haven't healed. Oh well.

Cymbals and Boyfriends

Yesterday at work wasn't too eventful. Ben and I started working on our introductions for class--we have to introduce ourselves and Colorado/America, in English of course, so Koseki-san asked us to start thinking about what we would say. Ben started printing out pictures to use on the whiteboard, and I got some poster board and some origami paper and started drawing a map of Colorado. I finished it today--it looks pretty spiffy. Then Koseki-san took us to fill out some paperwork for taxes--we don't have to pay Japanese taxes for the first two years here, whoo-hoo!--and then took Ben back to Softbank to figure out his iPhone since apparently his normal speaker isn't working. I went to Daiso while they were at Softbank and shopped around for some more house stuff, and then they met up with me and we went next door to King to get a bookcase and a laundry pole for me. Then it was back to the office where we worked on our introductions a bit more.

Of Cars and Things

I wanted to make scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning, but I realized I didn't have any oil or anything for the pan, so I had a peach and some tofu instead.
Koseki-san took Ben and I to Sakata to get our re-entry permits (visas that we need to get back into Japan if we leave, like to go home or on vacation somewhere) and to look at cars. First we stopped by and got our re-entry permits, where we were told that after July next year they won't be requiring them anymore. We had planned to get the multiple-use re-entry permit, which was 6000 yen, but ended up getting the one-use one that's only 3000. I'll only be leaving Japan once until July next year most likely--to visit home around New Year's--and even if I end up leaving again, I figure the cost of two one-use permits is the same as one multiple-use permit, so it's better just to buy the one now and see. It's great that we won't need re-entry permits after next July, though!