...May flowers...

It's May 1st and it's absoutely beautiful today. It's sunny, it's warm, and winter is turning into a memory. This month will be full of trips, will include a couple of birthdays (including yours truly's) and promises to be good. I can't wait, yo.

Last week was really good, memorable especially for Thursday and Saturday. After school on Thursday, I went for a run in the neighbourhood. I had on my iPod and enjoying the sounds of Johnny Cash in my ears. On my run back to the apartment, I was flagged down by a couple of my shogakuseis. I ended up doing sprints with them. Well, I was the only one sprinting, they were on bicycles. One of them, who is usually as quiet as a mouse just chatted my ears off. She introduced me to her mother, her grandmother, her dog, her cat, her cherry blossom tree, her house, Takumi's house, Ryou's house, and various other things. She insisted on touching my hair repeatedly, and at one point stood on a truck to touch it more. Apparently, not only does my body nioi ii (smells good), but so does my hair. In fact, the second thing her mom said to me after meeting me for the first time was "Momoka tells me you smell good." Ok....at least I don't have a rep for being stinky. Anyway, I ended up spending about 45 minutes hanging out with this cute 8 year old girl, and managed to commuicate so well with her that she didn't want me to leave.

The fun continued on Saturday when I made my first road trip by myself. Well, it was relatively short, clocking in about 2.5 hours, but this was my first long distance drive in Japan. I went to Dave's place and arrived without incident. We decided on going on a picnic and we made cornbeef sandwiches and put together a really tasty spread. We didn't really plan on going anywhere particular; just drive and see where the wind would take us. We ended up in Tsumago, a really beautiful, old town in Nagano. It was our first time in Nagano, though Dave lives pretty close to it. It was a splendid, sunny day and we were totally charmed by the sights in this pretty place. We ate in a really nice, little park and walked for a good while. I forgot my camera at home but managed to get a few from Dave (will post later - having difficulties uploading).

This will be my last post for a while because I will be leaving for Tokyo on Wednesday, the start of the (in)famous Golden Week. Should be fun. I will update when I get back.

A bientot...