The Weekend Review: Weddings

While I have had a busy weekend, I have to make a confession. Even though I have been on the go, I have simply not been in Japan mentally, while my thoughts were consumed by bigger things going on at home. Namely, my best friend's wedding!! One of my very best friends, Katherine, got married this weekend. We used to talk about 'someday' when we would get married when we were younger, and it is one of the events I swore I would never miss. Sometimes circumstances just make things too difficult, though. I couldn't make it home for the event based on the timing (or would have paid a LOT of money to go home for less time than it takes to get over jetlag, probably a long weekend) and couldn't make it work. You make sacrifices moving abroad, and I am learning that sometimes they are really hard. BUT... my heart and thoughts were definately with Kat and Cam. Alright, that's enough about the Opels before I get too emotional again, but deepest congratulations to the beautiful new couple!!! :)

Back in Japan, I spent Friday not doing much. It was a low-key night. I went runnning after work and met my friend Robyn in Akashi for dinner. She's going home to Canada to be a witness in a trial (pretty intense, eh?), but is spending the weekend rafting in Shikoku. It would be really hard to make the long trek back to where she lives and then get to the airport on Sunday night (after the rafting trip), so I agreed to hold her luggage at my house over the weekend. People have been so kind and gracious with me - it is really just good karma giving back, so I agreed to meet her for dinner and grab the bags. It was probably good I did take it easy, too, because I basically C.R.A.S.H.E.D. when I got home. I was going to possibly meet up with some friends (who went to karaoke), but - in hindsight - I definately think going to sleep at 8:30 was the best thing i could have done... and have done in a long time!

On Saturday, I met with my discussion group at the coffee shop in Okubo. It was a riot. We spent a lot of time talking about relationships and weddings (one woman brought pictures from her sons wedding and I told about Kat), but I honestly spent half the time laughing. One woman is in her late 70s and I get the feeling she was a bombshell when she was younger by some of the stories she was telling us. While we only meet about once every two weeks, we set up an extra date to make sushi at another lady's house, and I am really looking forward to it. I stayed at the coffee house after our meeting-time finished to work on my essay for a while (hitting an application roadblock...yikes), but it was a nice treat to walk outside and discover a large taiko performance. I probably got to listen to a good 3-4 songs (with dance) while the Okubo moving shrines made their way past. Hopefully it was just foreshadowing for Futami-cho's matsuri (my town's festival) next weekend!

On Saturday night, I headed to central Osaka for a joint-birthday dinner for my friends Brianne and Dustin. My friend Shannon also made it out to celebrate Brianne (on the left, in yellow), and I had a great time hanging out with the two MN/WI girls and meeting a lot of new people that live in Kobe. They actually chose to host the party at Elephant Cafe, the Thai place in Umeda that Kelly and I had our birthday party at last year, but it was slightly different environment with 50 people (all from Kobe) and nomihodai (all you can drink...). The group was going out to a local club called Saza-e afterwards, but I opted to take the last train home and call it a night. I saw a rat scurry around a corner for the first time in Japan as I was running to the train, but other than that, it was pretty much your typical night out...

It was probably wise that I headed home when I did because I had to be in Harimacho early on Sunday morning for the annual IFA Field Trip. Last year we made the trip to check out the Ikuno Silver Mines. This year, it was Arima Onsen town. Arima is the oldest onsen (hot spring) in Japan, and it nestled in the mountains, giving its cobblestoned streets the same effect that Paris or Switzerland gives off. I had been once before with Claire (and therefore opted to just do the foot baths and not the full hot spring bath since I had already experienced it once), but got a much better feel for the town after getting a full walking tour and seeing the source of the hot springs for the first time. After the trip, I headed home and did a long run on the path along the coast (an hour and 45 minutes this time!). On Sunday night, I met Robyn (and my friend Kate from Awaji!) in Akashi to give her her bags back. I stayed at Starbucks for a while (it's not quite New York City, but we do have a lot of them and they're popular here), sipping tea and doing some reason reading before heading home and to bed.

I got to talk to Katherine for a little while before her wedding this weekend, but I am really looking forward to my phone date with one of the bridesmaids tomorrow morning. As John Mayer puts it, "there's no substitute for time." I know a description doesn't beat being home, but I can't wait to hear more!