Group Gardening & the rest of the Weekend

The day after the enkai (Saturday morning) I had to get up at the CRACK OF DAWN for "group gardening". Ok, so it might seem dumb, but one person from every unit in my apartment complex has to participate in "group gardening" once a month. I don't have the best track record for making it to these events, but mostly because I've been out of town. Anyways, I was heading out the door a little before 8am, and to my surprise, I met a Japanese woman on the stairwell who was on her way to come and get me (I guess my absences have been noted). I checked in and was given a mini-machete as they showed me to the back-side of my building, where it was my job to cut the grass and weeds (by hand) and put them in a bag.
So now you might be realizing why I said it sounds dumb: yes, I was cutting the grass by hand, early in the morning, with a small knife. But the reasoning behind the monthly gathering really has a lot to do with the group-mentality so prevelant in this culture. I am pretty sure lawn mowers and weed whackers aren't a scarcity here, but the point of the event is to get everyone in our community out, working together towards a common goal, and getting to know each other. Granted, in my case, it was a little ironic because there's still a huge language barrier between the other tenants and myself, and they are shy around me anyways, so it's not like I met a lot of people doing it. It did, however, get my out of bed early and I do think it makes a good impression to see people and say hello. Chigusa and Jane (my friends - both English teachers) were also out, so I had a nice little chat with them once the hour was over and got a free bottle of peach juice for participating.
After gardening, I went back to bed for a little while and then met my friends Kelly and Jen in Akashi, where Jen gave us a binder with all the information from past charity events she has coordinated and participated in so that Kel and I can start planning our own events (the hand-off for our new Coordinator chair). I walked around Akashi park for a while, and spent some time reading in the castle grounds, under the beautiful cherry trees. That evening, Kelly came over for dinner, I cut her hair (added bangs - so cute!), and then spent the rest of the night watching the new episodes of LOST that "Clam" got in the mail this week (while doing Chuhai taste testing - big fan of the raspberry... who knew?!). I spent most of Sunday just hanging out with Chris (he let me cut almost a foot off his hair now that his metal band days are on halt), writing my Hyogo Times article, and had dinner at the karaoke place while belting out some songs with Lena, Kelly and Chris, which turned out to be a surprisingly delicious meal (and no surprise a great time).
Nothing too exciting going on otherwise (the Snow Patrol concert was canceled), but it was nice to stay local and keep it kind of low-key! That's all for now... but classes starting this week, so I am sure I'll be busy soon.