Summer Daze....

...are coming to an end.  And one of my biggest accomplishments has been my cross stitch project (I know...seriously entrenched in domestication).  My mom bought if for me like last year, but I just now bothered to put some MAJOR time into it and voila....a life lesson that everyone needs to know.  And what a journey it has been in the last year.

I'm awaiting the "official" start of fall where all the Japanese people will be busting out the fall gear in full force.  They are VERY specific fashion-wise about their seasons here.  The clothing colors change which I am in complete agreement with, however, they also start wearing fur-lined boots and sweaters, which given the temperature will still be HOT seems strange.  I'm still thinking it has to do with the fact that everyone is a toothpick therefore they get colder faster than their huskier American counterparts.  Just a theory I'm working on.  

So, I have to be honest and say that it's been a long time since I've been inspired to write a blog post.  I have no idea why this is as things go on with us all the time.  I'm still surprised by things here in Tokyo or our travels, but nothing has "come to me" in a very long time.  Maybe today I just had a lot to say....who knows.  

We've done a few summer highlights for you along the way (ie. the Notre Dame game, camping, my trip home, etc.) however, there are a few more that are worth noting.  We went to a O'matsuri (or festival) a few weekends ago that was a lot of fun.  It was this area near us, the Juban and was packed but worth it and as you can see John was pretty adventurous with the Japanese culinary delights.  

Associated with this was Bon Dancing at Roppongi Hills, which was okay.  I had gone to the Bon dancing at Hibiya Park the night before, which was one of the most amazing Japanese experiences that I've ever had.  It was for lack of a better word...magical.  The pictures that I took weren't that great and don't do it justice at all...it was one of those lifetime experiences for me.  One that you'll always remember.  Unfortunately, John didn't get to go, but needless to say this will be on my must do list for our entire tenure here.  

Following that up, John decided that we needed to break in our hiking gear and climb Mt. Takao...because what better way to get those boots worn in, right?  Which, if John were posting, you would have all the pertinent information, but since it's me, let's just say it wasn't that hard a hike or so everyone says.  And I'm sure the fact that I've been sore for a week is absolutely no indication that I may not be in good enough shape.  Although even for me it wasn't that bad at the time, but we're tackling Mt. Fuji next weekend.  Needless to say, they aren't comparable.  But John has gotten himself prepared....as you can see.

So be thinking of us next weekend when you are comfy on your couches...we will be climbing overnight.  As a friend of mine said "wow, this just doesn't sound like you at all...you know anti-adventurous and not really into nature" she was right, but I know I'll be glad I did it....theoretically.  Of course, I'm pretty sure that I'll be disgusting afterwards, which let's just face it isn't that exciting.  What we do for our men...can I get an amen?

Well, that's pretty much it from Tokyo.  Things are getting rolling again.  September kicks everything back into gear.  The bible study that I did last year starts up again next week, my rice cake construction (which I didn't really break from) continues, and I started tennis lessons today.  As he walked out the door, John's words of wisdom were "don't hurt yourself"...nothing like a vote of confidence in my athletic abilities.  Regardless, I loved it.  I had heard some interesting things about my instructor from previous students.  For instance, "well, he's a bit of an odd ball".  So I couldn't help but laugh when another one of my novice counterparts turned to me today and said, "there's something about him that reminds me of Pee-wee Herman".  And now you can get a little insight into our lesson.  Other than that we are heading to Dallas next week for a wedding...congrats Terri and Steve.  I hope that you all had a great summer as well.  

So, whenever I've kept a journal (which this feeling like sort of except for the lack of girlhood angst about boys and life and all that) I've always added a song so that whenever I read them again, which has yet to happen, but you never know....I'll know exactly what I was listening to.  Anyway, thought I'd give it a go here too....so here is our first introduction of "Name that Tune".  This is a shout out to our upcoming visit home and to our Texas peeps....

"all the Federalis said they could have had him any day....they only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose...."

Until next time...Jenn