In the last two months, I've visited Nara and Osaka (my fifth, sixth time?) and Tokyo (fifth time?) but never had the chance to post pictures.

NARA was beautiful and there were so many things to do--walk around the forest, feed deer, explore countless temples and UNESCO sites.

Daibutsu-den

Huge Buddha

OSAKA Aquarium

On the left, an octopus curled up in the corner; on the right, some big spider crabs!

The most famous sea creature at the aquarium, this huge shark!

HELLO KITTY in Osaka

HANSHIN TIGERS vs TOKYO YAKULT SWALLOWS baseball game at Koshien Stadium--crazy!!! Japanese baseball games are 10x more exciting because all the fans get dressed up in gear (shirts, towels, hats, the works!), sing chants for each individual player, and cheer like mad while beating together plastic baseball bats in a wild frenzy!

Everyone releasing their balloons after the 7th inning

Last week we had the CLOSING CEREMONY at school. I had to make a goodbye speech, and afterward, some girls were crying! It was bittersweet and I was definitely flattered that they were moved enough to cry. Then two of my favorite third years, Chihiro and Manami, came up to present me with a bouquet of flowers and read a speech to me. The students are now off for summer vacation (but all of them still show up for club activities every single day).

On the right is Yamamoto sensei with a picture I drew of him (doesn't it look like him!?). He's one of the teachers I interacted with most (other than my JTEs) because he's traveled a lot and speaks some English.

Then on Saturday (my second to last weekend here), we had a LAST JET GET-TOGETHER in Okayama City. I think over twenty JETs, both staying and leaving, showed up for dinner at Moby Dick's (where I bumped into my dance teacher, Ce-Bo!!) I don't have any pictures from the dinner, but here's Jon, Dennis, Marisa, and I posing with a giant Snoopy before we met up with the others.

After dinner, Lauren, Marshall, Tibor, Reed, and I strayed to Joypolis instead of karaoke where everyone else was. We played House of the Dead 4 (my favorite! I got a blister as usual though), Mario Kart, air hockey, and basketball. I was exhausted by the end! Here's Marshall and I posing as JR conductors.

And most recently, the teachers at my school threw a GOODBYE PARTY/ENKAI for me on Tuesday night in Tsuyama. They surprised me by taking me to a yukata store and getting me dressed up in one, complete with geta, (several other female teachers got dressed in yukatas too) and I found out later that it was a goodbye present from all the teachers! It was my favorite color--red--with a stylish modern obi. We ate at this amazing Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant, Cielo, where they served up dishes like sweet honeydew wrapped in prosciutto, raw fish with arugula drizzled in olive oil, sea urchin and tomato pasta, etc. I had to make another speech thanking the teachers and again was presented with flowers. It was a lot of fun, though karaoke afterward dragged on. The principal pulled me to the stage to dance (seku-hara! ) and some male teachers were totally drunk and out of it. A last crazy enkai to remember...

From the side, from the back!

Now my life is about cleaning, packing, shipping, cancelling accounts, taking care of last bills. It is the hugest hassle to move, especially from one country to another. I have to throw so many things away and pack up what remains of my life here into suitcases and boxes. Looking through all these old receipts, admission tickets to shrines, travel pamphlets, little notes and trinkets buried in the drawers and underneath papers has reminded me of the trillions of experiences and memories I made this year. I'm going to miss 久米南町 so much!