wet japan

yes, japan was VERY wet. it rained continuously from the moment our plane landed until wednesday morning. POURING rain, not just drizzle.
so, we got in sunday evening and had a little reception at the hotel, with great food, which was nice since i didn't eat anything for dinner. the hotel was very nice, but i wish my room was on the opposite side. i faced the street, while the rooms on the other side faced the tokyo tower. very cool! so then, monday and tuesday were full of meetings about music teacher stuff. i learned some awesome new things, it was really cool. and i met some wonderful teachers and we exchanged ideas on all sorts of things. monday night, i went with these 2 teachers i met who are from yokosuka (pronounced yokoska) in japan to this great little restaurant with all sorts of different foods. we took the subway and a train, and the stop where we got off was the intersection that you always see on ads for tokyo with all the big lights advertisements and the huge walkways with masses of people. it was pretty cool, and from the station, you could look down on the intersection and just see a mass of umbrellas. it looked pretty neat. but i got pretty wet, even with my umbrella, and we opted to take a cab back after dinner. we didn't want to deal with walking in the rain anymore. :) on tuesday, i was going to find a sushi place, but it was still raining, and there wasn't one close enough for me to find. so i ate in the hotel with some other teachers. it was fun, and i really got to know them well. i like most of them a lot.... there are a few who i wouldn't mind not ever being around again. ;)
so, on wednesday, it finally cleared up........ but we had meetings in the morning, and then the bus ride to the airport was about 2 hours long, so we didn't get much time to se a lot of things. along the ride however, we saw tokyo tower, the bay, a beautiful scene of the city, and some other cool stuff. so, i got to see a little of it. next year, we have another training session, so hopefully luke will come with me, since it's longer, and i'll get to see more sights, since we'll have a few more days with hopefully better weather. wednesday was such a long day, though! by the time i finally got home to luke, it was 11:45 pm and i had to go to work thursday! i was so tired, but the kids were really great, because i think they missed me a little :) and they were really good for me.
then........ thursday luke and i passed our drivers tests! YAY!!!!!!! so, after school, we picked up the mimba mobile! i was so happy to see her! and the car people here had even washed her and made her all clean for me! so nice! so, we took her to the gas station and filled up, and drove home. let me tell you, i was not a very good driver at first. apparently i was a little crazy with the clutch, cuz the car jumped a little. hahaha. (but not as bad as when i tried to teach liane the stick shift!! i love you, teehan!) but i was fine by the time we started home. oh, and to get to our house, you have to go up this big hill, so that was a little scary, but we made it! even though we still plan on walking as much as possible, it is so nice to finally have the car available when we need it!
and...... our household goods are coming on tuesday! yay! we finally get our bed, and our furniture, and we FINALLY get to open the wedding presents! it's christmas in october! :) we'll finally get to decorate the house and put up pictures, and sleep in a bed!
this weekend we may be going to see a korean drum festival, some fireworks along the river, and some other cultural things. this weekend is full of activities in korea because it is the start of the autumn harvest. i learn new cool things about this place every day!
okay, gotta run, luke is making us spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread for dinner. he is the best cook! yummy!