saturday!

ok, feeling much better today. i think i have finally caught up on sleep and am feeling much better oriented in the city. when i left today there was a sign up in the apartment about a local festival, in which our groundskeepers's "hawaiian band" is supposed to be playing. I rode around on my bike for a little while, but couldn't find it. but I like riding around here in no particular direction, so that's okay. the neighborhood streets are all very narrow, and always lined with flood canals and everyone seems to have perfectly trimmed little trees and bushes peeking up from behind walls. then also admidst the buildings are little rice paddies. really, they:re about the size of a Fishers' house but they're in the middle of the city. one of the guys in my apartment said its because the Japanese government places high tariffs on imported rice, which drives up the price of rice in japan. this allows people to use city land for farming and keeps rice prices high in the grocery, which they surprisingly are.

I've learned how to orient myself in this city, so i'm pretty much free to wander around. My system works by using the castle. seriously. you can see it from anywhere and can pretty much determine compass directions from looking at it to find where you are. My apartment's a bit northwest of it, and downtown is directly south from the castle's front. thus, by looking at the castle, i can instantly tell where I am and which direction i need to go. which is convenient because apparently the japanese don't use maps or label their streets. wait wait- not label them, name them. they don't name their streets.

this afternoon i found the *cultural exchange center*, which has free internet and a few books in english i might check out in a bit. from here they don't look too appealing though.

love,
allison