Hey friends ‘n readers! My lovely month of June has passed, with Britt flying back to Chicago just days ago. It was quite a change of pace, having her around. The first two weeks, while I worked, it was nice to return home to someone. Empty apartments stink.

Then, I took two weeks off, and we did a road trip. I seriously hope you guys keep an eye out on her website, Observed by Binti, which I mentioned last post, and will mention again here. She took some fantastic photos. Also, I didn’t take any photos. So if you want photos, you have to go there.

I’m a big loser for not finishing the Kyoto hitchhike photos. My harddrive started to fizzle and poop out, so I had to take it out for emergency storage to send back to my pops. Hopefully he can extract my valuable photos. I’m not sure that I’ve ever backed them up, come to think of it. Crap.

The real reason I realized I really should require myself to rite was because yesterday I saw…

AN ENORMOUS CREATURE! Yes, I’m sure you’re desperate to tell your grandmother all about more of the crazy huge wildlife Arius has seen. Well, yesterday, in the lawn outside, was a loooong black snake. I would say a little over an inch in diameter, and about four feet long. Looked like a narrow non-poisonous head. I’m sure the teachers would’ve flipped out more if it was a renowned viper.

Anyway, the cool part came when a young first-year student came close, and the thing leapt up and attached itself firmly to the student’s left eyebrow and just hung limply, undoubtedly sucking algae off of his forehead. The kid wasn’t bothered by it, I think the Japanese have an understanding with these snakes, like those little birds and crocodiles or those suckerfish and sharks or like those by-the-book cops and sassy wild-card cops.

Also, in Kagoshima, its really hot and sticky. The sun’s not out much, or it’d be worse. That’s reserved for August, after rainy season. But still, its quite horrid. Everyone’s sitting in front of fans with a general look of discomfort on their faces, and they have begun their delightful little habit of saying “Atsui! (Its hot)!” over and over again as though it were a brilliant revelation.

Lastly, I’ve just been sort of pulling things together to get home. Cancelling insurance and internet, cleaning up the place, getting rid o’ excess stuff, all to make room for the young Irish lass who will be my replacement. E-mails indicate enthusiasm! Hard not to be enthusiastic about the job before it begins. We’ll see how well she adapts to the work situation. Its not bad at all, but its not for everyone. The more formally you’ve been trained to educate, it seems to me, the harder it is to synchronize with the more traditional teachers.

Alright. That’s it. Just a few random ramblings, to get back into writing. I trust Britt will be doing lots of posting about the road trip, but I’ll post some here about things I remember.