Happy 4th of July!

Not a whole lot has been going on these last few days, but I'll give it a shot.

We're still stuck in this hotel and most likely will be until Tuesday. The quarters are getting pretty tight, but I suppose I should be enjoying the simplicity of having my towels folded and washed and my bed made daily. But, I'm not enjoying it. Not one bit. I'm ready to get this show on the road! I am ready to try out my new kitchen and to sit on my balcony and read my new Chelsea Handler book. But, alas, I will stay here for now.

Since I last blogged, I have been able to hang out with a couple of American gals. We've had a Starbucks/shopping date and breakfast at Denny's. The Starbucks is pretty much the same, and the Denny's...well, sorta. The breakfast was pretty tasty, but I must warn against purchasing eggs at a restaurant in Japan. The menu picture showed them as being over-easy, but there was a BUNCH of extra clear runny fluid involved. I'm not a very picky eater, but one bite was plenty for me. The French toast and orange juice were splendid, though.

Travis has been working 13-15 hours a day so far. I'm really hoping that's not a trend for how it's going to be for the next 18 months, and I know he's hoping it's not, either. It's a privilege to be able to participate in this program, but it's pretty hard when our time together is only 2-3 hours/day. It wouldn't be quite so bad at home, but for now I pretty much just hang out with myself all day, and let's face it, I'm not that cool.

I have been trying to study Japanese on my own, and I applied for a one-day-a-week class. Hopefully I'll be accepted, whatever that means. I am actually really looking forward to tests and homework. I actually miss school and the challenge of exams. I'm also hoping to get hooked up with a private tutor soon.

As I mentioned previously, it's been a pretty uneventful week, but I'm really looking forward to the weekend. We are supposed to attend a little get-together for the 4th tonight and have plans to head to Kyoto tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it!

I'm working on planning a vaca to Thailand in August so if any of you have any tips, please pass them along. Apparently my thoughts that it would be so much cheaper to fly from Japan to other Asian destinations were all hogwash. Yeah, it's not so much cheaper. Yikes!

Well, I hope everyone has a fabulous 4th of July! The 4th has always been one of my favorite holidays. I LOVE summer and BBQs. If I could get my chops on some potato salad and some strawberry shortcake right now, whoa buddy! But, instead, maybe I can get some sashimi and green tea ice cream. Delightful, don't ya think?