Monday was Coming of Age Day. Not wanting to waste a three-day weekend, Joey, Joe, and I had talked back in December about going to Korea. I was kind of pooped from the trip, so I decided to pass. Besides, I'd rather not spend a couple of hundred dollars to be in freezing weather--even if there's Pizza Hut and Krispy Kreme--when I can wait until summer.
On Tuesday, I had one of my last classes with the Toyotama third-years. I'd spent a couple of lessons trying to teach them basic English rhyme and rhythm. They'd done fine with rhymes involving sounds that are the same (or almost the same) in English and Japanese (bed, sweet, etc.). Sounds not present in Japanese gave them trouble, but they got the gist of it. I even went so far as to try iambic pentameter, solely to get them to accent syllables. They were highly amused, and they got the idea, but I don't think it stuck.
Anyway, Tuesday I brought a Dr. Seuss book with me. Inspiration had struck at the Barnes & Noble in Springfield, and I'd bought three of his books. Looking at all three--Horton Hears a Who!, Oh, the Places You'll Go!, and And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street--Iwase-sensei and I decided on the last one, mainly because it was the shortest. The six of us sat in a circle and took turns reading a page. It didn't work out very well, but they picked up on the rhyme pattern.
I went up to Joey's on the weekend of the 24th. Bracing myself for a day and night of the usual craziness, I was surprised to find Joey, Mike, and Gavin bundled up in blankets watching Chappelle's Show. They had stayed up late partying the night before, and the hangover plus the bitter cold had taken the wind out of their sails. Kim and Joe came over, and the six of us hung out. Mike made tortillas, and we grilled them up and filled them with stir-fry chicken and vegetables. We didn't actually get dinner ready until 10:30, which is pretty much the norm when we party at Joey's.
The night was astoundingly chill. Mike, Kim, Joe, and I played Scrabble, and I used all seven of my letters for the first time ever. ('Citizens' with both blank tiles! 82 points, baby!) We moved on to poker, which we played (for no money) until around midnight. Kim went home, and the rest of us went to bed with Tropic Thunder playing.
Sunday, everybody slept until noon. I found this pretty remarkable, considering we hadn't been up all that late, and there hadn't been any serious drinking. Joe and I headed over to a friend's apartment to see their new cat. They're not technically supposed to have pets, but some of us have pretty relaxed offices who don't really keep up with us. The cat's name was Nagasaki, in honor of the place she was bought. She goes by "Saki" for short. Joe made the awesomely cruel joke that they should get a second cat and name it Hiro.
I headed out soon after, and took my time driving back. I went to Miuda beach, which looked just as gorgeous as it always does. I took a walk along the shore and passed a man and his granddaughter. He struck up conversation with me, asking where I'm from and where I work. He recommended I visit the Korean overlook, a designated spot from which you can see Busan on a clear day. He proceeded to give me advice that was highly reminiscent of small-town-gas-station-attendant directions: "head yonder way about six blocks, hang a left after the big pine tree--you can't miss it; if you see the Piggly Wiggly, you've gone too far." I took his advice, and eventually found the overlook. It was kinda hazy, though, so all I got as a gorgeous view of Tsushima.
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