Busy week

Sorry for not blogging sooner, it has been hard to keep up. Even though we are no longer doing the cultural stuff, the days have been flying by for all of us. So much so that I haven't seen Emily for over 24 hours and just barely saw Lauren yesterday.
First of all, an update on where we went last Saturday: After visiting the old houses we drove on the National Road 115, through the Tsuchitsu Tunnel and then on the National Road 459 Bandai Kogan. The first lake we went to was the five-colored lake, and the second one was Hibar Lake.

Sunday July 4th was a free day for us. Yeah! Happy Birthday America! I celebrated 13 hours before anyone in the USA did... but it was strange not to be in the US on the 4th. First time in my life I have been out of the country on July 4th. Was just another day in Japan. It was also Mark's birthday so I got him some chocolates that I gave him on Saturday. So I spent the day catching up on laundry, tweaking my classroom presentations and sleep! Attached are some pictures of downtown and the hotel, plus the S-Pal mall near the train station. I also went shopping!

On Monday morning there was an earthquake at 7am. I was standing at the bathroom sink doing my hair when I noticed the room gently swaying. Hmmm, I wondered, is this me having some sort of dizzy spell? I walked out into the room and noticed everything swaying....... not me, as it turns out, but a mild earthquake. So mild that Mark (Mr. Mizunoya) didn't even mention it when Lauren and I drove to the suburban campus with him. Guess these things are just a normal part of life here. At any rate, I didn't have class until 10:30 so I spent some time in my office reworking my presentation on the American and Japanese economy and Lauren went off to start her internship at the kindergarten, which is located on the campus. After my hour and a half class, I spent some more time in my office or "study room" as Mark (Mr. Mizunoya) calls it. I then took the train back to the hotel mid-afternoon and finished up the presentation on the economy. Lauren, Emily and I went to dinner in the S-Pal. I had some type of chicken dish with udon noodles and a green salad. I think it is going to be a long time before I ever eat noodles, pasta or rice again. I may even re-think salmon, as I am afraid I am growing gills or going to get mercury poisoning! But I will write more about the food in another blog. Emily got back mid-afternoon as well, but Lauren had to stay at the kindergarten until 5pm or so.
Tuesday Lauren and I both went in early as she has to be there at 8am and I had an 8:40am class with Mark. I then spent some time in my study room and again left campus mid-afternoon. Mr. Kanno (CEO of the college)took me out to dinner, along with "Miss Kelly" whose picture is included somewhere in my blog, and Michail, the pianist from Poland who now lives in Fukushima and plays at all of the lavish graduation ceremonies. He is very funny and entertaining, and he played the piano for us at a small pub we went to, and then again later at a nightclub/karoke bar that we went to after eating at a yakitory (chicken or whatever on a stick)restaurant. Unfortunately Mr. Kanno insisted I sing, so I tortured them all with "Sumertime", "As Time Goes By", "New York, New York", and the ever Japanese favorite "My Way". The real singing star was Miss Kelly, who has a lovely voice and sang many Japanese songs for us. Dancing was included in this evening as well, and I guess I should thank my mother for making me learn how to foxtrot and other ballroom dances lo those many years ago when I was 11 and in the 6th grade and taller than all the boys.