March 23rd to April 3rd in 2016

Eikaiwa on the 23rd does not stand out as having been anything significant or important. I’m sure it was, however, entertaining.
The 24th saw me attend tea ceremony. I did not, however, end up staying the full time. My knees just hurt too much to keep going. Frustrating.
The 25th was the big going away party for Miyanojo. I was super sad to learn that the Special Education teacher was leaving, as she’s a dear lady whom I shall greatly miss. I did, however, find out that the vice principal is a 5dan in Kyudo. So . . . that’s awesome. I need to study with him someday. Well, it was super sad. Matsumoto didn’t even show up. I rather suspect she had a falling out with the school, and I get a strong impression that it was over a love affair. She’s in the process of divorcing her husband, I have heard from multiple reliable sources, and a few months ago she really wanted to stay in Miyachu. Before leaving, she said she was excited to leave and that she didn’t like the men at the school. Circumstantial, yes, but that’s often all one gets in Japan. After the party, we went to the after party, which was fun. While there, I bumped into the Eshin after party and found out that Okadome is leaving! What a tragedy, everybody I like is leaving. Well, the parties were fun. I hugged the principal of Miyachu, which confused him, but I adore him and I was hoping that it’d make sense
The 26th should have been D&D, if I remember correctly, but wasn’t because Tris’ mum made him do work for her by surprise. Then I ended up canceling my guitar lesson to go into Kagoshima city and to meet a girl that I’d met on Tinder who was visiting. Well, things were nominally entertaining. She hasn’t replied to my messages since. Big surprise. Well, it was a day in the city, and I found which place has the good beer selection, and I bumped into some JETs who remembered me, which was nice.
The 27th was the kimono event in Izumi which was relatively fun, but not that great. I was invited to do some koto lessons. Now I just need to find the card of the lady . . . anyway, I have a new kimono which isn’t a great size, but it still enjoyable. I figured out how to contact the dealer, and that’s critical. I had a pretty okay time, all things considered, and I got interviewed by the TV coverage of the event. Doubtful it’ll air, and, even if it does, I won’t know about it. Still, fun-ish. It was also Easter, but there was nothing I could really do celebrate it.
No recollection of what I did after that. Possibly just slept a lot?
The 28th I sat at the office and read/chatted/played games until Eikaiwa.
The 29th and 30th I took off and just slept. I felt terrible. I didn’t want to do Eikaiwa on the 30th, but neither did Sam, and I had no excuse to miss (neither did he, he was just being a shut in), so I did it.
I went to work on the 31st. I’d barely slept the night of the 30th, but I wasn’t too worried because I’d slept most of the past two days. It was also Hirayama Sensei’s last day, and I didn’t want to miss it. I also ended up helping his replacement, Kumei Sensei, move into his new apartment. A bunch of us from the BOE went. It was really nice, a kind of a ceremony. That lasted about an hour or so, then I returned to the BOE. Then I went home and . . . no idea. Just couldn’t sleep.
I got a bit of sleep the night of the first. I woke up early and went to Hirayama’s going away party. At least, I thought that’s what it was. Turns out it was another moving day, and I was there in my newly dry cleaned sports coat. Still, it was fun to move things. The cute tiny girl who works in the BOE was there. I impressed everybody with my sumo strength. Then I rushed back to finish a D&D game. I had canceled my guitar lesson that morning on account of feeling awful. Headache . . . stomach issues . . . and the whole shebang of a migraine. So, what I did after that? I don’t really remember. I did, however, start to feel better as the weather system moved. I went on a nice walk, and I talked to Matthew for hours, which was lovely. I also talked to Simona quite a bit. I also slept a bit. Not enough, but some, and that was lovely.
On the 3rd, I went to Tomarino for the bamboo shoot festival. We were taken by trucks up into the mountains, and we dug around and cut out bamboo shoots. I ended up with 6kg. They will be given to my Eikaiwa students. It was fun, and I felt like getting WAY more than I could handle. Seeing as I can’t handle any (you have to cook it specifically, it turns out) 6kg is highly excessive. I bought four kokedama, which are little plants growing in balls of moss. They’re lovely, and gardening is allegedly good for the soul.
After that, I went home, then went to guitar. The lesson went far, FAR, better than it had any right to, which made me happy. I’ve got to practice that damned thing. Then I killed time until bed, but ended up not being able to sleep much anyway.
The 4th, today, is my last full week of being 29, something that is horrifying on a truly existential level, but, at the same time, I’m too exhausted in every sense to care. At 12 today there is a hanami party for the eikaiwa, which promises to be fun. I’m going to leave the office a bit early to don my kimono. Beyond that, not much to report or hope for today.
Misc:
Thursday or Friday, while eating at Wai Wai (I did it both times, but I think this was Thursday) I met a cool old guy and his wife who invited me over for ramen on Tuesday. We’ll see what happens.
I reread The Iliad and loved it. It’s making me want to read fiction again. For the first time in ages. And that’s a good feeling.
I’ve put on weight. I pushed myself too hard leading up to this. I knew I was risking things, but I did it. The exhaustion collapses I get tend to follow periods of unreasonable exertion. I’ve got to scale back. Again.
I feel like there’s more, but it’s not coming to me. Writing this is difficult enough. Nothing seems to be working or coming out. I’m exhausted. Still, I did it, however crappily, and that’s worth something.