Very exciting - I went to an oral surgeon last Friday (May 26th) and had all four of my wisdom teeth removed plus one little broken off tooth too. So it’s been nothing but squishy foods and lots of painkillers since then….. On the upside - my teeth hopefully won’t be hurting me at all after this. I was getting some not so fun pain the previous week that was from the wisdom teeth and I couldn’t think of anything funner to do with them so I got them taken out.

I’m finally adding some photos today though the format will probably change again in the near-ish future I felt bad having all these fun photos laying around and not sharing them.

So we’ve got me and momma up at Pilot Mountain, Sebastien patiently waiting for lost luggage at possibly the smallest airport I have EVER seen (Winston-Salem and I’m just kidding), and some super tasty fresh strawberries!! Yes, this is why mom’s strawberry jam tastes so good.

And now some from Minnesota:

And we have my lovely gramma who turned 91 this year, her son (my Dad!), and me in front of her mountain ash tree, a picture of a wren’s nest that is inside a hanging plant basket on dad’s porch, and some pretty trees in silhoutte as we drove back to the farm on the highway.

I hope everyone is well and that everyone comes to visit me really soon too!!! Later…….

And where did i get to after that long trip?!?!?ﾃつ HOME!!ﾃつ Pictures of the apartment are below. We’re on the first floor, the apartment closest to the camera. So that little window right in the middle is mine. There are three rooms, three roommates - Kerry from Canada, Lisa from Australia, and ME!ﾃつ I got the only japanese style room with tatami mats on the floor (the rest is hardwood). There are sliding doors connecting my room & Lisa’s (not so great) and i have a huge closet too (all sliding doors).

ﾃつ

So then I walked back home and stopped at a shrine and temple on the way. I was glad that no one was there so I didn’t feel like I was angering the gods or something by just wandering around taking pictures of everything.ﾃつ

And finally, a few pictures of pretty flowers growing in gardens or on the side of the road. The hydrangea is the city flower of Nisshin!!ﾃつ

Answer to a popular question: I do NOT sleep on the floor.ﾃつ ﾃつ Those are tatami mats, and then i have a foam mat (2″ thick) and then a futon mattress that’s maybe 3″ thick that I sleep on top of. I’ll have to take a picture of the whole shebang…..

So after I walked around the little flea market I ventured into the regular shopping area of Osu Kannon. A lot of the shops were closed - I guess because it was a weekday. But there were a lot of little ‘cool’ shops for younger Japanese people. Clothing is pretty expensive. I saw a lot of $30-$40 t-shirts. There were also a lot of kimono shops. I found a sumi painting store that had little ink blocks for $300 and up (a few cheap ones too).ﾃつ !!!

So I didn’t take too many pictures as I didn’t have too great of a time in Osu Kannon. I walked around a bit outside of the main shopping area which is apparently not a popular thing for tourists to do. I had a couple people stop what they were doing, turn all the way around to watch me walk past and then spit on the ground after I got past them. could’ve been a weird coincidence but I really doubt it. I tried out a little restaurant for lunch and it was terrible. Chewy, strange flavors, some squishy stuff, and I don’t even want to know what else. It was shaped like a taco but was a thin omelette instead of a tortilla with a ton of stuff inside. All sauced up with a rancid-BBQ liquid. I dunno. At least the beer was good.

I was excited that I finally saw a little color - four whole black people!!ﾃつ And everyone of them said something to me (hello, how’s the food, hi, and ‘hey, white girl, genki (cute), where are you from). All kinds of fun. I think that’s the most conversation I’ve had with strangers since I got here (excluding while shopping or working). So there was a lot to look at and laugh over but I felt more like the whole day just highlighted my alone-ness. It’s rude to make eye contact in Japan and of course I don’t speak Japanese but it just feels really strange to have several days in a row where no one looks at you, let alone smiles at you. No ‘konnichiwa’s, no eye contact, no smiles, no head nods,ﾃつ no nothing.

On the plus side, I found a tattoo shop in Nagoya - couldn’t figure out how to get into it though. Only saw the sign but wasn’t sure which door or stairway belonged to the sign. Nagoya is supposed to have a pretty good night life so I guess one of these weeks here I’ll have to venture out and take a look. The only annoying thing is that the last trains are at midnight and then they don’t start again until six a.m. - which means it will either be a very short or a very long night…..ﾃつ I guess that’s it for this entry. Mt. Fuji climbing season started not long ago - my roommate Kerry is going to go next Monday with another girl from work. I’m going to try to go sometime during July or August as those are supposed to be the easiest months to try.