Yukata

Today I bought my first article of Japanese clothing; a yukata. I wanted to get the one you see in the picture here, but it was only available online, and I don't know how long it would take to have it shipped. So I bought one from a store that pretty much only sells kimono and traditional Japanese clothes. It was a bit more expensive, but it's really nice, and it has tigers on it. You'll see photos of me wearing it next month.

I am going with a whole bunch of people to the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto on July 17th. It is the largest festival in Japan each year, and I am excited to see it firsthand. There will be lanterns and geisha and floats (Oh my!)

I decided to do one cultural thing in Japan every month (like Hiroshima in May and Himeji Castle in June...see previous posts). This will be my July event, and in August, I'll be climbing Mount Fuji!

In general, things are looking up. I had a great Japanese class today, my private students are progressing nicely (I have a new one tomorrow who wants help writing formal business letters and speaking appropriately on the phone to clients in the U.S.), my shift swaps were approved for my brother's wedding in August, and it looks like the transfer to a Kyoto branch will happen September 1st. That means starting Aikido is just around the corner. Also, some friends from California (Somkith, Shoichi, and Megan) are coming on three separate trips this fall. It will be nice to have people from home to show around and re-ground myself with.

The only challenge lately is that it's raining EVERY day. Riding home in the rain the other day, my bicycle tire got caught in the train track, and I went down hard. Everything went flying, and my leg is gashed up pretty nicely. Mostly, though, everything is fine. It's just getting old getting soaked on my commute.

So for the most part, I'm feeling excited again to be here and have a lot to look forward to, including wearing my new yukata!