The Day After

I don't WANNA study....blah...

I was fed up with my apartment and the studying that I figured I would go get my flat tire fixed. The day after the typhoon, and while the sky was still a bit cloudy, there was a nice breeze which gusted into my teeny apartment. I sat out on my balcony for a bit, but I thought, "This will NOT do!" (So sue me for the Regency speech, I just saw the trailers for "Becoming Jane" and the "Jane Austen Book Club" yesterday - Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books).

So I went to the bike shop near me, which incidentally, word on the street is that it's the best bike place in Kyoto. Strike another point for my neighborhood! I get there and it was so windy that the only thing I could comprehend from the bike dude was "Is that ok?" I just nodded my head and sat down. I felt like I was in an auto repair shop getting hte oil in my car changed or going for a tune-up, except that this is Kyoto, I still don't have a drivers license (don't plan on getting it this summer) and the ride of choice is my bright yellow bike.

I thought it was going to be like 3000yen, as the posterboard listing the prices and the guy said; but turns out the way he repaired my flat tire was just putting some rubber cement on the hole - it was just a tack, after all. So it only turned out to 840yen. To celebrate, I rode my newly repaired and tire-pumped bike down to Rue Ergo to study a bit, and drink - overpriced, but delicious - coffee.

Because its summer, rainy season AND a typhoon just hit us yesterday, the Kamo River was higher than usual. And the current was much, much faster. Normally, in the Spring, you see people going across the stepping stones (in the shapes of rectangles, or even turtles and boats) to go across the river; I did it myself once, back in October.

When I ride the bus to school, I cross the river; at the delta near Demachiyanagi, I can tell how high the river is by whether or not the water covers the stepping stones. Today, I didn't even need to go up close; as I was riding my bike to and from Rue Ergo I just stopped because the sight was amazing. The water going over the little ledges was so fast and so smooth it just looked like glass. Add to the fact that there were still storm clouds (which is why I left Rue Ergo earlier than anticipated, since I didn't have my umbrella with me, and there was a very light, slight drizzle) it was one of those things that you just needed to stop, and take photos of.

I lamented the fact that I didn't bring my camera but I remembered: "WAIT...I have a camera on my cell phone!" Normally, I really don't take pics with my phone but I figured this was something cool to put up here. Even though the quality isn't great (it IS a cell phone camera after all) I particularly like the contrast in the blue of the sky and the blue-green of the river.

Wind. Big Wind.

Kyoto has a lot of bugs. To the point that I wasn't able to go to El Coyote because I found that one of my bananas went bad, and there were fruit flies flocking to it. Gross. I needed to get rid of all of them and I did. It doesn't help much either that this is the end of rainy season. It has been raining for FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT (not that I mind, my bike has a flat tire and I don't ride my bike in rain like this regardless) and today is the real kicker; there is a typhoon going on right now outside. My mother, the well-meaning person that all mothers tend to be, tells me that there is a typhoon coming this past Monday; I, the student living under a rock and has no tv, brushes this off as "Oh, ma its just rain, it IS rainy season you know." Only when my teacher confirmed it that it was a typhoon then I realized, "OoOoO...typhoon!" As Cat told me, "typhoon" sounds cooler than "hurricane."

The funny thing is that "typhoon" is "tai-fuu" in Japanese, so the pronunciation is really similar. The characters for it are 台風. The last character, "fuu" means wind, so this is just one nasty wind. As usual, everyone back home is flipping out and this morning - or rather afternoon, I slept until 12:30, I figured I deserved the sleep-in - I rather grumbled grouchily, "PEOPLE! GET A MAP!" Then again, it didn't help that I turn my cell phone off at night to save the battery so I don't charge it so much (and hence, save on the electric bill) so I'm guessing the NYC familia were flipping out with good cause.

I will say it again: I am in a LANDLOCKED area. There are mountains on three sides if Kyoto which means that the hot air doesn't move so the tai-fuu is quite welcome in my book; I am not even using my AC today, just have my window open. And to top it off, the Kansai region does not get as many earthquakes as Kanto - it took four little earthquakes to tell my mother that everything is fine. Seriously, its just rain and wind now - a lot of rain but the wind isn't strong. If I lived in Okinawa, then people can worry. Thing is, people don't know that I am pretty far from Okinawa. Baaaahh....seriously!

Four earthquakes, one typhoon. Gotta love Mother Nature. Maybe I should get my mom a map of Japan for her birthday, which is in two weeks.

Zaa-Zaa...Or, Another Dose of Japanese Onomatopoeia

I went to the gym today after a stint in the library. Because I live so close to the gym, I take a shower when I get home because I don't want to have to lug extra shower stuff all day - it's a 5 minute bike ride, and I usually go at the end of the day.

Today, rainy season, or tsuyuu, has unleashed her fury! Rain ALL DAY LONG and at points so heavy and fast it qualified as "zaa-zaa" - really heavy rain that just pounds and makes that "zaa-zaa" sound. Ah, Japanese and onomatopoeia. I took advantage of a lull in the rain to get from the library at Kyodai to the gym (which is less than a two minute bike ride if I get all the streetlights on time), but as was changing in the locker room (which is on the upper level and right under the roof)...

ZAA-ZAA!!! ZAA-ZAA!!!

OoOoO...its really bloody raining. Right proper pissdown!

Mega, mega hard. To the point that even the people at the gym's reception told me that it's ok if I wait a bit so that the rain can lighten up. I wait, get some green tea from the vending machine and sit. In a lull, I rush downstairs to my bike, which is parked underneath the stairs so that it won't get drenched. My brakes are squealing (like all the other bikes, it's a very characteristic sound of Kyoto, the brakes squealing) and because I use my right brake more than my left, it doesn't have much "brake" quality anymore. So in the rain, I have to be extra careful - when I ride my bike in the rain, I hold my umbrella with my left hand and steer with my right. Weird since I am left-handed, but my bicycle bell is on the right side so it's just easier that way. Thus, I ride my bike slower in the rain since I do it one-handed.

It's still raining now and its 8:22pm. Stupid me, I did NOT wear my rainboots because in the morning it was just a slight drizzle and I thought that "Pfft...I wear my boots and the sun will come out." However, I did NOT wear my Birks either because I didn't want them ruined; I wore my navy blue ballet flats, but because they are suede my feet turned a lovely shade of blue as a result of the dye bleeding onto my skin.

JUST as I head out from under my protective stairwell...

ZAA-ZAA!!!

DAMMIT. DAMMIT. ZANNEN. ZANNEN.

I have to ride my bike in a torrential downpour. When there is light rain, the umbrella+bike combo is fine (like it was that morning as I rode my bike to the Kyodai campus to get the bus) but with zaa-zaa rain, I might as well not use my umbrella. I was practically drenched, to the point that if I was lazy I didn't need to take a shower when I got home. It lightened up just a teeny bit on my way home; just as I parked my bike in front of my building (underneath that awning) tsuyuu unleashed her fury again. My shoes were actually filled with water; I decided going into my building barefoot is less dangerous than slipping about in squishy, soaked shoes (the hallways actually have its own cleaning lady), so I took off my shoes while outside my building, and scampered inside.

Spring is in the Air...

The weather was so gorgeous that I could not stay in my apartment. The sun was shining, the air was (sort of) warm, the plum blossoms were blooming and I was sick and tired of being cooped up due to the cold weather.

Hooray! Spring is (almost) here!

On Friday, I had lunch outside on the terrace at Rune/Lune (however you pronounce it) with Colleen and some of the KCJS kids - it was so nice that I decided that instead of staying in my apartment, I was going to get my book, and ride my bike to the Imperial Park and read it there.

It was still a bit nippy but if you were in a sunny spot, then all was well. I found a seat in a picnic area with benches and tables; turned my back against the table, faced the outside (so that my back was supported by the table) and proceeded to try and continue "Memory and the Mediterranean" by Braudel.

There were a few other people in the little area that I was in: an elderly couple eating lunch, a gaijin reading a book as well, and two Japanese men. There was also this cat, lying on one of the benches that was carved out of a tree trunk; at first, I thought it was dead or sick because it was just lying so still and calmy in spite of the fact that there was a man on the same bench. Turns out, the cat had quite a "ho-hum" attitude about the people around him; even when the other foriegner when he sat next to the cat tickled him with a leaf, the cat didn't hiss or run away, just got up, turned around and settled himself back to sleep. Ho-hum.

Today, the weather was even better, so I went to the Kamo River (Kamogawa) and took with me "Mao: The Unknown Story," and my lunch for a me-myself-and-I picnic. Found a bench, parked my bike and plopped myself down and read my book for about 2 hours or so, and even took a nap in the sun with the book as a pillow (the book is about 6 inches thick, 1000pages) for a few minutes. Unfortunately, the weatehr forecast says that it's going to go back down to 40 degrees, so one can only enjoy the weather for as long as it lasts.

Have Bike, Will Slog

Something possesed me last night:

"Here is an idea, Maria - ride your bike to Kitano-sensei's (my koto teacher) house! It's ok if its south of Kyoto Station and is going to be 46 degrees out!"

Maybe it was the fact that I am going over budget recently, and I needed to save the bus money. Maybe it was also that after several days of incessant rain (and it rained last night too!) I was itching to enjoy the (cold) sunshine.

So, I hoofed it. On bike.

Oh but wait, the story gets better.

Higashi-oji Dori has narrow sidewalks at one point or another - so narrow in fact that there is only room for one person. It can be a bit risky at times; for the first time in my life I actually rode my bike on the street for several lengths of time. Of course I went slow. I always get to Kitano-sensei's house rather early, and I didn't want to sweat alot with the going-up-the-mini-hills brou-haha. Didn't the city works committees way back in the day when they paved the roads hear of LEVELLING it? Oh well.

At least there are only two big hills (Shijo and Gojo), as opposed to too many little hills on Kawabata/along the Kamogawa. I still had to take my sweater off. When I wear my navy blue plaid peacoat (many of you have seen this peacoat) I wear this gray, zippered cardigan from J.Crew. It's friggin' cold out, man!

It's important to mention this sweater right now. Most of you probably know that I am a very big devotee to that store (and that is still an understatement). All that aside, there is a nice memory associated with the sweater:

When I was 15, I got some birthday money from my Nouna (godmother) and my dad took me to the J.Crew store on Prince Street in SoHo - WAY before it decided that $158 cashmere sweaters were the norm as opposed to $48 merino wool sweaters (basic wool sweaters are now $68 - I wait till stuff goes on sale, as I always have). We were looking around trying to figure out what I could get with my birthday money, when my dad picked up a gray, zippered cardigan with pockets and a drawstring:

"Ah, I had a sweater like this when I was your age, but with buttons. This is a good sweater."

My dad used to work in the garment district as a furrier, making mink coats for designers like Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein, Valentino, etc. He once made one specifically for Vera Wang (the person). So when I go shopping, I go either usually with my dad, or ask him what he thinks either before I get it (online) or after, when I buy it.

I knew then that that was a good sweater. So, I got it.

Seven years (and many wears and trips to the dry cleaners) later, and I still have the sweater. There is not one hole in it. So I usually wear it in the winter when I wear short sleeved stuff, or as an extra layer. I was getting hot as I rode to Kitano-sensei's house so I took it off and shoved it in my bike basket. Never thought to put it in my bag.

Plink, plink, PLONK (my right hand is really not used to all the grunt work) and an hour later, I am making the reverse trip back up Higashi-oji. I had an errand to run - I needed to get my re-entry permit, since I am going abroad for Christmas. The subject of re-entry permits and my beef with them are the subject of a later post.

On the way, I remember that there was a shop I wanted to go to but it wasn't open yet. I keep forgetting that shops here open at 11, not 10 am. I go to a cafe and sit there for the next 45 minutes, drinking a weak and expensive (500 yen!) Cafe Au Lait. Coffee and Japan - another post. 11:15 am rolls around and the shop is still not open. Bah! I then head onto my errand for the morning: Kyoto Immigration Office.

I go to Immigration and fill out the application. In order to get the revenue stamp that says you paid the money for the permit in order to get the permit, you need to go outside the building, walk around the corner to another building and go to the Revenue Stamp Office. Japanese bureaucracy and my beef with that will be another post as well. Stay tuned.

I go to the office and get my stamp; I was in a bit of a rush. I had a craving for nabe-yaki udon from the cafeteria and I wanted to see if Chen was around for the usual time of lunch at 12pm. It was now 11:45am. I am biking back up to my house to get my books and laptop before I head to Rune (the cafeteria) when I realized something. I actually exclaimed aloud:

"WHERE IS MY SWEATER?"

I practically brake so hard that my bike squealed in protest. Good thing I parked it under the shelter last night - as I mentioned before, it rained AGAIN. I turn around, and go to the Immigration Office.

Not there.

I go back to the cafe where I had my coffee.

Not there.

The shop that I was waiting for earlier was actually open by now so I decided I might as well check it out. The minute I parked my bike, it hit me:

I left my sweater at the REVENUE STAMP OFFICE, not the Immigration Office. I was so tired at this point, I had no choice but to continue my morning slog. I leave the shop, head back to the Revenue Stamp Office. It was closed. I had forgotten that Japanese offices actually have a set lunch hour, usually from 12 to 1. I actually bang on the door, praying that someone was there. Luckily, someone heard my banging and when I said I regrettably forgot a greay sweater (as that was the direct translation) she handed it to me.

O thank god. My sweater has been restored.

Unfortunately, no nabe-yaki udon. It was already 12:45 by the time I got back to my apartment so I went for the next best thing:

Piza-man and Bifu-karee-man from the Clocktower coop shop.

Ame, Oh-Ame

Japanese lesson # 5 (6? Whatever. You still learn):

1) Ame: rain
2) Oh-ame: big rain

It was raining cats and dogs yesterday. In my opinion, Kyoto gets more rain than London. Then again, I wasn’t in London during March 2005, when my former flatmate emailed me during vacation and told me “Good thing you went home, the weather here is so bad, we don’t know whether or not to go out.” I am presuming that what she meant by
“weather” was rain. I never got to experience a right proper downpour until my last day – I had been wanting one for so long (yes, it does seem twisty, but I haven’t experience right proper rain until then) so I did leave home happy. There is a picture of me on the 73 bus going back to my dorm sopping wet – and with a big grin on my face.

But that downpour was in June. Earlier that day, the weather was very nice. It is December here, and then add to the rain a cold atmosphere. However, it’s not that cold – yet. According to a girl who used to live in Westchester for 5 years, Kyoto gets colder than New York. We shall see about that. And in the meantime, I won’t rush out to by an electric heater (though Professor S. highly recommended a kerosene one, he uses it and I noticed one in my koto teacher’s room as well) – I finally figured out how to heat my room with the lowest fan setting at 20 degrees Celsius, as opposed to 30 degrees Celsius and the highest fan setting. The key is in the orientation of the vents – one day I was playing with my remote and pressed a button and noticed that miraculously the vents changed their orientation. Eureka! That’s why there is hardly any hot air in my room, it was blowing down as opposed to out because the vents were facing down as opposed to out.

I have been drinking a lot of HOT English breakfast and Greek tea to warm my un-acclimated innards. So the experiment is working, for the moment. Let’s see what happens when I get my first real electric bill. I got one for 349yen for like my first three days but I have no clue why I got one so fast. I just went to the combini and paid it.

I figured that by the time I become totally miserable, it will be mid-February and I plan to travel that month and a half around Japan and Asia (latter part if possible) so I won’t be around much to justify the purchase of an electric heater. Then spring comes, and I would have survived my first winter, so that means I can get through another one.

So back to yesterday. In spite of all the rain, the people at the International Students Center still hosted the mochi-tsuki event. Mochi is sticky rice cake, often covered with powder to prevent it from sticking it into your hands. I had some when I went to the temple bazaar on Imadegawa a few weeks ago; that mochi had a strawberry in it. Yum!

Traditionally, they make a batch at New Year with a stone bowl and a BIG pestle. You want big? See big:



It was about 400 yen for pretty much all-you-can-eat mochi, tea (as always) and this miso soup thing that you pour on top of the mochi, the kind that is not rolled into rice cakes and covered with the powder. The miso soup was a little too salty though. I was really happy when they started to make the little rice cakes. I had mine with kinoko – something that is like a cross between cinnamon and brown sugar, I think – and adzuki, red beans. Red bean is used a lot in Japanese sweets; I like it a lot because it’s sweet but not too sweet.



I didn't pound the mochi myself – the pestle thing is really heavy and I am left-handed so I would place my hands somewhat backwards on the handle. It was already rather crowded under the tents since there was little space to stand around. Just as I was leaving for class, they began to make matcha-mochi and adzuki mochi. The bastards! I wanted that from the start; luckily during a class break I had some adzuki mochi, since they were still pounding away even at 3pm. No more matcha-mochi, unfortunately.

I asked if there was any kinoko left and I dipped the (big!) mochi in it – the lady manning the mochi trays said “Ippai!” (More!) good-naturedly.

So I had my mochi, and kinoko too.

Dum, dum dum...DUM!!!

I got my ticket today.

OH MY GOD. I AM REALLY LEAVING.

When, you ask?

October 3 - JFK to Narita, departing at 1:30 pm EST. Arrive in Narita October 4 at 4:20, have a connecting flight to Itami Airport near Osaka at 6:15, arrive 7:30pm Japan time. Someone from JASSO (Japan Student Services Organization) will meet me at Itami.

In a way, I am in shock. Because I knew that this was coming all summer, and to have it in your face - or rather, on your computer screen in the form of a e-ticket on PDF - is a bit daunting. I was expecting for JAL To contact me sometime like next week, but the first (full) week of September! Damn! They are prompt. I don't even have my visa yet, which will be rectified tomorrow. Must. Go. To. Japanese. Consulate. TOMORROW. AT. 9:30. AM.

I have to get two suitcases. My other one broke falling down an escalator at the Heathrow tube station in London and I don't want to go through the nightmare of carrying a 35 kilo duffel bag with no wheels again. I almost broke my wrist. And I don't like this thing of a 20 kilo limit...I am a GIRL. And a girl has shoes. With coordinating sweaters.

Not that I have like 20 pairs of shoes (HA!) but I do have a few pairs that I need/want/must bring with me.

Then again, I think I do have 20 pairs of shoes. Not like I wear all of them.

My mom is all depressed now. She KNOWS that I am leaving. Like, for REAL now. She berated my sister and I (again) on how she does not like this "traveling business" (Leah, like me, will study abroad in her junior year in Italy, then wants to do a Fulbright in Greece). I told her its not our fault that we chose fields that require travel. Hell, I am going to Japan on (practically) a free ride. Does she have to worry about paying a $2283 plane ticket that is one-way to Japan? I think not. But again, she is a mommy and when I was going to London it was her in the end that was telling me to go and my dad getting all depressed. Before, it was my dad ready to pack my bags - he was the one asking me at 13 why I wasn't going to Manhattan by myself yet (I still wasn't allowed to go to the main shopping drag that was walking distance from our old house at 13).

Going along the theme of foreboding-ness that is permeating this evening, along with anxiousness and excitement - did I mention that I SKIPPED down the hallway in the law school this evening when I finally got my ticket? That was me in my "OoOoO!" phase - which lasted a minute. Now I am thinking of all the crap I have to do before I leave - Mel and I went to Philadelphia this Labor Day weekend and we came back in two whole pieces (each of us counting as a piece). Ernesto was pouring buckets of rain on the city of brotherly love, so Philly was a bit deserted. I wanted to go to Antique Row (bought a lovely cameo bracelet that is probably from the 40s) so we took the SEPTA line that goes north and south.

Now then, I have taken the NYC subway by myself at 3 in the morning and gone through the South Bronx on the 6 train. Of course, there are dangerous spots that a girl wouldn't go to - the N train at 3 in the morning from 34th street is quite safe. When a father in an admissions tour asked me if the trains were safe, I was honest - I told him it depends on which line and which time of day and said my 3am anecdote and he blew up on me saying that the trains are never safe. Ignorant little person. Anyways, I was never nervous taking the subway on my own at 3am (granted that was only one time). However, I DO NOT LIKE the SEPTA. Never had a never been more terrified in my life - and Mel was a bit shaken up too. I turned my ring on the inside - and I NEVER have to do that in NYC. The SEPTA platform was deserted, had a disgusting smell and you really couldn't tell who was a homeless person. Mel said that it should be really called "SEPTIC." The smell was worse than 34th street (remember the 9 Circles of Hell?) on a 100-degree, 100% humidity day. My mother used to take me to 34th street every Wednesday when I was younger - dad and grandma used to work in the Garment District, so we would have lunch at Macy's - so I know that station pretty well. SEPTA was much worse.

I did get my deferral letter from UPenn when we first arrived. It was a very "happy" deferral letter, saying congratulations and "we wish you well" and whatnot. According to the secretary, I should be contacted soon by the department about the Ph.D. program - but in EALC, not history. When I said that I will most likely apply for the Ph.D. the secretary replied "No problem, I will just transfer your file there and reactivate your application so that you don't have to pay the fee again." Score! I just saved myself $90. Phew. UPenn is nice - Mel and I each got tshirts, although his is from Wharton (the "dream" business school) and mine is regular UPenn. I can see myself going to school there, University City is nice. But Harvard isn't that bad either. I think those are my top two now.

I was a bit disappointed by the Philly Museum of Art - it looked like there was going to be this HUGE museum like the Met, but it was very small compared to it. However - and I thank Cat for this - there was an actual Japanese teahouse in one of the Asian galleries, which I really enjoyed. Here is a kicker though - in a video on the side of the gallery, they presented a Japanese tea ceremony, and had koto music playing in the background. I actually recognized the tune - I have it on my iPod. My mouth just dropped, what a coincidence! And it was my favorite one too - I only have 4 but hey, I do have a favorite. Koto music puts me to sleep.

Speaking of sleep, I have to go sleep. Or try to. Every since I got that ticket, I can't help but feel a bit more excited.

We're Having a Heat Wave...

So the heat wave is over.

And I did not lose power.

Woot!

However, my fridge is still an empty hole - we are still somewhat wary of Con Ed and their plottings, so my family just buys the stuff we need as the day requires it with the exception of non-perishable stuff like Costo-size Special K cereal.

There are still generators all over Astoria; according to the papers there were about 87 of them. They are rather large - there are CAT (Caterpillar) generators the size of small SUVs scattered even in my neck of the woods. However, my mother and I were not able to go to the public hearing.

Nonetheless, Mother Nature's latest leash of fury upon the United States was not very enjoyable. I have a slight propensity to pass out when the mercury tops 95, especially when there is a heat index of 100+, so I have been chugging down the water. However, waiting in the subway stations - the underground ones, not the el - is like sitting in one of Dante's circles of hell. Take your pick. 34th Street - on any platform - should be renamed "Ninth Circle" because it is...hmm, can't even use the word "stifling" because it is much worse than that. If the word "stifling" had a superlative of the nth degree, that would describe 34th street. And that is even on a regular summer day, so imagine when it is 115 with the heat index. Add to the fact that you are underground and I can imagine the little blobs at the end of those old-school thermometers bursting into smithereens Looney-Tunes style.


I'd say there is about a month and a half left of summer (HOLY CRAP). Let's see if the following two things will occur:

1) Con Ed gets rid of all 87 generators that have now populated Astoria like hawks on a carcass and fixes the LIC power grid (Fat chance!)
2) I predict at least 1 more heat wave. For three days. Leading to a brownout in Astoria - where else? Pah, 65% of the city's power plants are in the LIC electrical grid and we are the ones that get the blackout from hell.

Yeah, I still hate Con Ed (what New Yorker doesn't?) and am still mad over the blackout.

Doggie Days

Every year, people usually make a list of things to do during the dog days of summer.

For example: go to the beach and get a tan. Go on vacation. Read alot of books. Take the kids to the park. Keep the kids occupied so you don't go crazy. If all else fails, some parents send their kids to summer camp - sleepaway are day is dependent on parental preferences and location. In New York, parents CAN keep their kids occupied without sending them to sleepaway camp.

I for one have never been to summer camp. My summers were filled with chilling with my childhood group of friends and our mothers while the dads were at work (most of our moms by the time we were in the tweenie years worked for the public schools, so when we were off, they were off) - mostly running amok in my old neighborhood every day during the summer from about 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Our mom's would collectively gather in front of my apartment building and the one next door (because 3 families were concentrated between those two buildings so it became a focal point). One mom would make frappe - Greek iced coffee - the others would sit and chill and make sure that none of us got hurt. When you put together the kids that lived on my block plus the "fringes" (lived in the neighborhood, not on the block but came most of the time) there were about 20 of us, ranging from 18 to the age of 3 by the mid-1990s. And we made ALOT of noise. Today, my old block is quiet. Everyone got older, my family and two other families moved away from the block, and there isn't a new generation of kids to take our places. It's a bit sad in a way because my old block had such a reputation for being kid-central in the summer. We got creative; we would play manhunt or hide-and-seek. One time, one of hte older kids hid my little sister in a trash can. We would ride our bikes around the block till we were red in the face.

Sometimes, however, our summers were spent in Greece as opposed to the front stoop. In Astoria, Greek parents ship their kids off to Greece to stay with grandparents or other relatives. For the entire summer. Some of my family friends have gone to Greece the day after th public schools finished (around June 25) and don't come back till Labor Day weekend or the day before school starts (first Thursday after Labor Day weekend). If you have a sharp memory, recall that my parents did that to me in 1995 as a "graduation gift" from elementary school. For the entire summer. Yep, I did the "whole summer in Greece" thing.

I have done it twice actually; first in 1995 and the second time in 2002. Both times I stayed with family and had to deal with relatives that I have never met before (like a third cousin from my dad's uncle's side[?]). However, in 2002 it was a bit more fun; although I lived in the village outside of Sparta with dear ol'grannie, my mom and my sister for about 5/6 of the summer, mom sister and I did go into Athens and Thessaloniki and visited the other grannie in Florina (way up north, about 18km from the Greek-Yugoslavia border. We actually went to the border; it was a bit of a highlight). but when we were back in Sparta, my yiayia would take us around the other villages in the mountains and other little towns - one was a beach town called Yitheio, another time, we took the ferry with my mom's cousin to a small island for the day called Elafoniso. Whenever the old biddies from the village would come to call, my mom sister and I would make fun of them afterwards or in hushed voices - but in English of course.

And now, the dog days of summer are here upon us again and the summers of 2-month+ vacations away from home are long gone. For now at least. In the future, I plan to go a month here, a month there and I know I can drag Mel along at least because if we do something like that in Europe there is internet connection. Plus the time difference is such that if I fulfill my dream of renting a house in Tuscany for a month, Mel works during the mesimeri/siesta/naptime.

My other future summer goal is to go to Greece, pretend I don't speak Greek and island-hop like a tourist for a month or two. I told that to my dad - he took one look at me and started laughing. He said I still had to visit yiayia ALL THE WAY UP in Florina. It's an eight-hour bus ride between Florina and Athens.

But this summer, I have academic pursuits to accomplish. All of which revolve around Japanese:
1) Get up to 1000 Kanji
2) Get through "Le Petite Prince" (in Japanese)
3) Get through my "Breaking into Japanese Literature" reader
4) Review all my grammar
5) Record vocabulary and put onto iPod

and other little things. In June I did nothing at all - I needed a little bit of a break from school, especially after this past semester. I was exhausted. I also have other little miscellaneous things that I want to complete:
1) London scrapbook
2) Small vacation with Mel
3) And yes...get a tan. I am a pasty freak. Not to the point of leather but a nice little glow.
4) Get DVD's for Japan (when I was in London I only had like 5 movies which bored me to tears after watching them twice when I had the flu. This time I am going to be prepared, although there is a DVD rental store in Kyoto that is bilingual.)

and other things I forgot at the moment.