Summer Sonic 2010

I took Saturday off work so I could go to Summer Sonic with Miho and Asami! Summer Sonic is a huge music festival in Tokyo and Osaka. It was incredibly crowded, hot, and humid. Even though we put on sunscreen, we sweated it off pretty quickly.

Asami went to England, and brought us back some cute Union Jack socks. Miho had to model them on the train.

Asami and I on the shuttle bus to the venue.

The British band My Passion. They wear more makeup than I do.

Chillin' on the grass, watching Ocean stage.

Taylor Swift

Stevie Wonder's set.

28 Days Later...

I only have 28 more days of work left. That doesn't include weekends or Obon holiday, but hey, it made for a catchy title.

This weekend was incredibly low key. I met up with Lamika in Osaka and we went to see Inception. It was great! Our seats however... since it was the first of the month, and a discount day, it was sold out, but we got seats!... on opposite sides of the theater... in the first row.... Whatever, the movie was more than awesome enough to make up for that.

Today I cleaned massively, and have put most of the junk from my apartment into trash bags to be thrown out on the correct collection date. I should pack for Taiwan, since I'm going to Summer Sonic on Saturday and won't really have time this week.


FAQ

When are you coming home?
Probably between September 20 and October 9.

Where are you going to live?
Initially, I'll be in Burlington. Then, who knows.

What are you going to do?
Whatever the hell I feel like, I suppose.

South Korea's got Seoul!

Sunday I woke up bright and early (5:00am) to give myself plenty of time to catch the bus to Kansai International Airport. I made it there with two hours to spare, so I sat and listened to podcasts until I boarded my plane for Seoul!


Amanda met me at the airport, and we took the subway into town. After a wonderful lunch (Mexican!) we walked around the Korea War Memorial Museum. They have a lot of tanks and planes outside, and you can even climb on a few of them!

The view from Amanda's apartment in Haebonchong oogori.

Korean War Museum

Creepy super realistic painting of North Korean soldiers.

Later on, we met up with Amanda's friend Matt and ate Korean barbecue. It was AWESOME.

After dinner, we hung out at the local bar Amanda and her friends go to, and played foozball for a few hours.

The next day, Amanda had to work for a few hours in the middle of the day, so I wandered around Itawon, the foreigner area. Also, there are lots of shops, literally any store you can think of in the States is here. So I wandered around, and bought a purse.

Delicious Korean porridge.


Tried to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace, but it was closed on Tuesdays.... so I went to the National Palace Museum of Korea, conveniently located right beside it.

Skyscrapers in Myeong-dong.

The fountain in Fountain Square.

My best friend Mary has this same car.

Me and Amanda at a rooftop bar.

Earthquake

I took so many photos at the wedding Sunday, that I'm having a hard time editing them! Please be patient, I will post them soon...

In other news, I woke up at 6:19am to an earthquake. It only lasted 2.6 seconds, and it wasn't sever at all, but my immediate thought was: I'm not wearing any pants. I don't want to be discovered in the rubble without pants. Luckily, it wasn't bad, and was over quickly, and my sanity returned, but it was ok, since no one got hurt.

Oli and Nika's Wedding

Sunday, I rode my bike from my apartment to Minatogawa Shrine, to shoot some photos for Oli & Nika's wedding. Oli is a friend of Gordon's, and I met them both last year at the Suma Beach Party. It was incredibly hot, but a beautiful wedding, and the reception was a blast!

Oli & Nika and their families, before the ceremony.

Walking into the shrine.

Oli's mom said it was her right to thrown flower petals at the happy couple. I couldn't agree more.

Making an entrance at Fish Cafe.

Everyone was clapping and cheering.

Nika's cousin, who's a newscaster from Tokyo.

Oli's parents dancing.

Oli's sister singing.

Hannah and Matt, Oli's best man.

Jun making crazy faces.

Mojo Hands.

Looking Forward

40 more days of work left. Jackpot.

I'm pretty excited to be coming home soon, although lately it seems it's not nearly soon enough.

But! It's not all homesickness and blues over here, I'm looking forward to going to Korea for four days in a couple weeks, vising a university friend, Amanda. Then I work two half weeks, and I have a week vacation, Obon! My friend Janet and I are going to Taipei, Taiwan! Yessssssss!

Last weekend I stayed home, weeded out some old clothes and basically threw away some of the junk I've accumulated thus far. I went to sing karaoke with Tim and Nana on Monday. She loves singing 90s power ballads, so you know I was rocking out the backup vocals to some Lisa Loeb.

Next week is dodgeball and BBQ in Osaka, and then The Great Japan Beer Festival at the Kyocera Dome! I promise to take lots of photos and post em soon. Have a great week, can't wait to see yall (and I mean that from the bottom of my heart).