Weeks and weeks

What a neglectful blogger I have been. This post is going to be exciting because I am going to write it in reverse chronological order.

Does updating my Linked In account mean I'm grown up?

By the end of the work day today, I had been assured for the umpteenth time that I would have April 13 and May 7 off no matter what. Glorious. The plans are back on- April 13th and 14th I will be participating in a charity bike ride on the Shimanami Kaido bike route. Saturday the 13th we will bike one way, stopping for lunch and fresh citrus, then stay the night at the end of the trail. The next morning we bike all the way back! The charity it is benefiting the 2013 Tohuku Artist Caravan which helps with art projects in an area hit hard by the 2011 tsunami. Here's to hoping for good weather- yeah biking! And of course, May 7 is when I will be visiting my friend Sarah in South Korea for and extended weekend. It is very uncommon for Japanese people to take days off for travel, so getting these two days off were a big deal (and a big ordeal).

We have had our first real lessons (those not with our boss). There is a beginner level business man who is very friendly and nice and a duo of intermediate business men who are also apparently nice (I have yet to teach them). Very exciting!

There is a traditional Japanese food called okonomiyaki that is like a pancake with a bunch of extra lovin' inside. I tried this magic for the first time last weekend. The one I got was pork and kimchi and it was obnoxious how delicious it was. Look at these pictures.

The one closest is mine, with a lovely slice of cheese on top and okonomiyaki sauce drizzled with mayo. The cake of wonder on the right was my coworker Alaina's which was a mochi and cheese flavor- surprisingly delicious. The left circle of happiness was Alaina's boyfriend Luc's seafood medley. All 3 were masterpieces and I can't wait to eat it again.

I went to the sunset spot again with Alaina to test out her new tripod. We were joined by a surprising amount of people considering how cold it was. I got some cool pictures on my iPhone, but nothing compared to hers. It was really fantastic and I did a lot of unhealthy staring at the sun. Don't tell my eye doctor.

How many sunset pictures can I add before it gets obnoxious? 2 is enough.

Probably other interesting things happened in the past weeks, but the St. Patrick's Day Parade is the one worth commenting on. There were some really fantastic characters running around and it was all a mess of fun. It began around noon with the Irish Ambassador to Japan (or some title that sounds similar) making a speech. He led the parade along with his wife and some others. Next in the parade came the bagpipes and the foreigners. After us was the flag team then the marching band that played the same little bit from a song over and over. Last were different groups and dance teams. Eventually some of the foreigners began to sing along to the notes the band played because, wow, it was not a long song and we heard it so many times. It was pretty frigid but still a lot of fun. There was a little food fair after and some dancers and people performed. Highlights were the group of children who sang different versions of if you're happy and you know it (angry, sleepy, sad...) along with their names and birth months, a cool group of dancers that looked like it was spread across 3 generations, and a "flash mob." I put the flash mob in quotes because I don't think they really had the idea down. It was more like one person started then a bunch of people rushed out. Still pretty hilarious with their Michael Jackson dance. It was a lot of fun and here are a few cool pictures.

 Two men, the pope, the Irish Ambassador, his wife, and another man

 One of my coworkers signed up in a team and it was so cute

 Your guess is as good as mine

 Bacon wrapped rice YES

 Little children speaking English is the cutest

 One of the cooler dances

Girls dressed in kimono doing some traditional dances.

Maybe I won't wait as long between posts next time.