Friday was the last day of classes, and before I'd even left the building I felt a bit lonely for everyone in it. Before the day was over I was twitchy with "what am I going to do for the next month?" Yesterday, I just took the opportunity to sleep in and laze about all day. Today I knew if I did that too much I would go insane. Plus I can only use the air conditioning the bare minimum and being inside it's too much of a temptation to turn it on. So I filled a bag with various study materials and, equipped with my sunglasses, fan, and a bottle of cold milk tea I headed to the park. At a shaded picnic table I spent a while reading the Bible, and a while more copying Japanese sentences in a notebook. All in all it was the perfect way to spend an afternoon. I also walked up to the tower you can see in my profile picture for the first time. I thought it might be some sort of memorial but there's no marker, so perhaps it's just a viewspot. It certainly has a fine view of the city. Next time I should bring a camera. The park is very green now thanks to the rainy season - when I first came the field was yellow and I respected the maintainers for not using water on non-vital things like sprinklers. But now it's thick with clover, and after less than a minute looking down at it I found a four-leafed-one which I don't think has ever happened to me - I usually am the sort to resort to tearing one leaf off two and putting the remainder together to give myself the sense of being lucky. There weren't any of my students in the park - a few families with younger children running about happy and naked - but as I headed out I heard drums and followed them. I found an ornate cart parked near a bank with three large taiko drums, accompanied by a high flute. A group of children took turns beating them, overlapping so there was never a moment of silence. They varied in ages to older teens but even the very littlest made a powerful sound. It was very soothing to listen to, the same basic sounds but with infinite variety. I listened for a while, and then two of the players being relieved of their positions bounded over to me and turned out to be two of my third-years, still with their gym shirts under the colorful jackets. They gave me some cool tea from the cooler for the drummers, and asked where the other ALT was, as though we are Siamese twins. "Who knows..." I said, my most useful Japanese phrase, but thanked them for the drink and watched the show a little longer.
Totally unrelated, I found this video of the street outside my apartment. I'm not sure why there are all these videos of just roads and cars, but someone might find it interesting. See if you can figure out which one is mine <3
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