and the livin' is easy

It's finally here: the last day of June. How did the time go by so quickly? Tomorrow marks the start of July, and the end of a busy week at the Junior High School. It's strange to think that everyone back in the States is on summer vacation. Japanese children are in school from April until mid-July, have a month long break, and then continue in school from September until mid-March. Only two more full weeks of school and I will be relaxing in Minakuchi for a month or so!!

The realization of the onset of summer hit me quite suddenly in the middle of last week.
It went down something like this....

One day it was cool and windy, the next it was BRUTALLY HOT. I have no idea how Japan manages it, but the change of seasons happened literally overnight. The classrooms aren't airconditioned so it's pretty tough on the kids and teachers. Once it reaches the height of the day they tend to turn on the aircon in the teachers' room (which is hotter than anywhere else), but most people have to suffer. It doesn't take long for every single person in the school to be sweating and fanning themselves. The flip side of this is that everyone feels as gross as you, so you can't really feel bad about being sticky and smelly. Chances are the 40 teenagers in the next room smell lots worse....

Despite the heat, the weather has been really beautiful. I went to a volleyball game this past weekend with the teachers at my junior high and took this picture on the bike ride home. I love clouds! 

I am excited for my break to start.... I have some really cool things planned for the month of August. First, I'm going to be travelling to the Tokyo area in order to (attempt to) climb Mount Fuji! Tis the season, and I am looking forward to camping out and watching the sunrise. Directly after this trip I will be able to meet Carlie and Brett in Tokyo. MY COUSINS ARE COMING TO JAPAN! I am so psyched to see them ^^ They'll be here for a week, which gives them time to explore (and me time to be an annoying tag-along, mwa ha ha). The plan is to check out Tokyo, Hakone, and the Kyoto area. There may be other side trips, but that is yet to be decided. Towards the end of August, I will be embarking on the most ambitious of my summer plans: travelling to China. A friend of mine found a really good deal on a Japanese tour of Beijing and the surrounding area. It won't be a long trip, but I hope to get a small taste of China. 

(And check it off the checklist.)

(Mom, Dad, and Metta: this is my revenge for the national parks.) 

This is the tour: CLICK HERE

Just to make you feel better, I can't read it either. Kanji is annoying. But we're having a Japanese person help us out with the details, so it's all good. 

I hope do some other day trips and have some small adventures, but this is all I've got so far. Regardless, I'm super excited and can't wait to get started.

Epic Volleyball Fail