Lilac Kibou

Well, I was down with an eye infection for most of this week (I woke up one morning with my right eye swollen shut, incapable of opening more than a half inch...), but thankfully the medicine seems to be working. Which is good, because the consulate keeps demanding more and more work for the application I submitted which should have been done by now...^^;;
At any rate, yay for summer! For those who wondered what happened with all the dirt I broke my back carrying home, here's a follow-up on my garden plans^^

Beautiful day.
Bicycle ride.
Blue skies.
Bought new things.
Bright ideas.
Bed time soon:)

And, because of an incident last night, I decided to put down some thoughts on social equality, aka my rainbow rantXD

It's finally warm here...when I left for Thailand I still needed the heater on indoors, now my colleagues and I spend our days at work fanning ourselves and asking if anyone else is hotXD Cool biz just started this month, which means guys can come to work in just a shirt, no tie or jacket; my male colleague was overjoyed about this;) Girls can wear pretty much whatever all year round as long as it's professional and no shoulders showing (what did shoulders ever do to you, Japan??). However, it makes me curious what Super Cool Biz will be like, coming June 1st...swimsuits? Muumuus?? Nudity??? (oh god no...). With almost all of Japan's nuclear reactors shut down there's just not enough electricity to go around...

Anyways, I recently visited a beautiful place on the northern coast of my prefecture and though I'd share it with you^^

Hi everyone, it's been awhile! I was in Thailand for a little over a week, and since I got back I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get this scholarship application ready to send off (and freaking out over Canada Post's laziness). Hopefully today I will be able to see it off and wait with bated breath for it to arrive at its destination before the deadline.
So, to break the tension, I thought I'd write up a little travelog for my time in Thailand, the summer kingdom^^

Another weekend well-spent, hanami in Tokyo with old friends:) And the days go on...
Oh, because I thought it might be mildly interesting to some of my longer visitors, there was talk around my office of involving Arashi in one of our events. We have an event called Teens Rock that gets held in different countries and it's going to be in Beijing this summer, and they were hoping to get Arashi to put in a performance as part of the whole 40th Anniversary of normalizing relations between Japan and China spectacular this year.
And for a few, small moments I thought my life had come full circleXD After spending long nights dreaming about becoming a translator and someday, somehow, meeting Arashi, it was a very surreal feeling (especially now that I have moved on). But, just as quickly, it was over; Arashi would require the yen equivalent of 2 million dollars to put in a performance, and needless to say my backwater prefecture does not have that kind of cash...^^; Oh well.
On a related but somewhat tangential note, if anyone here has heard of the Korean idol Jihoo? The one who's 27. He came to visit our prefecture as part of our attempts to get Koreans to come back after the earthquake, and he came to my office. We were all told to go down and wave him in, and he shook hands quickly with the large crowd as he slowly moved his way to the elevators to go see the governor. It was amusing to see everyone so excited, even the older menXD
Here's a pic to illustrate...

Anyways, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom here and I thought I'd share my pics and experiences with them^^

It finally went above 20 degrees today, for the first time this year! Ahh, it was so nice to walk to and from work with no coat...none of my plants have sprouted yet, but over the course of the day the cherry trees in front of my work went from being buds to full blossoms, it was a magical transformation:) Soon the cherry blossom snow will start, and it will finally feel like the world is beautiful again...
Speaking of Japanese aesthetics, I thought I'd share a piece on a Japanese warrior's country home^^

I had a productive weekend. I packed up all the souvenirs I bought to be mailed out, assembled my tax forms to be sent, looked up flights to Chiang Mai, and gave myself wicked muscle pain from hauling 100lbs of planting soil home on the back of my bike. Nearly killed myself, and if it wasn't for the kindness of some passers-by I would never have made it, but now I have planters seeded with lavender, basil, mint, cilantro, and carrots on my balcony. The celery, mini tomatoes, cucumbers, and sunflowers will go in once it gets a little warmer outside^^ Looking forward to what comes up:)
On the other hand, I was saddened by the lack of presents for my birthday from close friends, despite it being a fairly big year, and then seeing a photo of the one I loved smiling so happily at his new love broke me down when I thought of how I will never see that again, and how much I want a love of my own...

Just got back from my bday trip to Okinawa on Saturday, ran into Tokyo to see a friend visiting from out of town on Sunday, and lo and behold the week is back in swing! Already looking forward to the weekend again...XD But I thought I'd share my thoughts on Okinawa^^

Writing research proposals is not as easy as some people make it out to be, especially when you know your future is one the line...time to try again I guess. On a side note, thought you might enjoy an introduction to the secret history of Japan's Kairakuen^^

The plastic is gone from my building!! Now if they could just take the scaffolding and tarps down, I will finally get to see the sky again after so long. Plus, going on a trip to Okinawa for my birthday^^ Hopefully I'll get some sun while I'm there so I can go swimming, it's been a long cold winter. But, I think I am regaining my faith