Another weekend in Niigata...

Pink Girls!
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

So, it was another semi-relaxing, semi-random weekend in Niigata. This time, however, Star came up from Tokyo to join in the festivities. Persevering through the start of the rainy season (it arrived on Friday), we spent a largely chill weekend ambling through some of Niigata's attractions, including Kamoyama Park, Yahiko Shrine, the Echigo Brewery in Maki (Japan's first microbrewery), the Kamo Onsen, and Niigata City. We met up with Melissa, Kate, and Errol for parts of the weekend and mostly just had fun. It's so nice to have visitors in Niigata - I think that some of my favorite Japan memories have been simply hanging out in Kamo with good company. Here are the obligatory pictoral tidbits:


Kristi, Kamoyama Park
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Star, Kamoyama Park
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Star & Kristi, Echigo Brewery
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

By the way, today is my last day at Tagami Jr. High, and it's somewhere between awkward and tragic. I traded speeches with the teachers and students this morning, and even got a very nice bouquet of flowers which is currently looking somewhat stranded on my desk. But at the same time, I've seriously only been to this school about 15 times this entire year (with teacher transfers and student graduations in between), so I don't feel like I know them well enough to be all worked up. But maybe that's the really sad part - that I won't have the time to get to know them any better.

Anyway, enough rumination for now. After this year in Japan, I have concluded beyond all reasonable doubt that too much thinking is indeed bad for a person. Off to do!