So, it's been a long weekend... but a good one all the same!

Friday, I went for purikura, to an izakaya (bar-ish place), and karaoken all in one night with Chisato and Lauren!! Was SO fun. And we had a great time talking to the nice waiter at the bar... SUCH a cutie! ;-)

We slept in until 11 on Saturday... at which time the blistering heat woke us up. Blah! Hate it when it gets so sticky and miserable. At 3 I met, Mami, Mayuko and Makiko (Mami's sister) at Jusco to do purikura and have a nice visit.

That night Lauren and I went to the last music party... saw some people for the very last time. Then came home and read a bit of Harry Potter before bed!

Sunday we woke up to GORGEOUS, but very hot weather. We headed to Tsuruoka to watch our brass bands play in the local band festival (it's their main competition for the year)... and then headed to Yonezawa.

Bryan Green married his girlfriend Rika on Sunday in a gorgeous (apparently) ceremony. Lauren and I went down for the reception. It was a lot of fun! A mix of Japanese and Western traditions... and a lot of Bryan's friends and family made it over. We just had a great time... and it was nice to see some people before we both leave!

Monday was a holiday and it was our last chance to climb Chokai... but needless to say we came up a bit short. The wind was crazy on the mountain... we decided that trying to climb it would be unwise. What's more, there were some men who headed out just ahead of us... they had all the right gear... and THEY turned around too!! :-) Didn't make us feel too bad after that. On the way down the mountain we entertained other hikers with rousing renditions of "99 bottles of beer on the wall" and "wheels on the bus." We decided singing was a good idea! ;-)

Then Lauren returned to my house for a Harry Potter marathon... we read for like 8 hours! We're crazy, yes... but it was fun!

And now we're at Wednesday... I've written my good-bye speech for Tachikawa... I'll just have to practice a bit before I give it tomorrow... am going to bawl!!

Anyway, talk to ya'll later!