Bum's a Bet - Hair Salon

I was rudely woken up at 4:30 this morning to some alarm blasting over the loud speakers in my town and some man on the loud speakers announcing something... the echo is so bad I cant understand a word he says. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the book 1984 and I'm just supposed to wake up at 4:30. I've woken up that early almost every day either by an announcement or by an earthquake. In the past week we've had quite a few large aftershocks (I've counted five). They were all up north so they weren't too strong down here but I've definitely felt them. The big earthquake started off pretty small and then built up pretty strong so when the aftershocks hit I keep waiting for it to get stronger. A few people I've talked to say the plate near Tokyo has been weakened a lot from all the quakes and we should expect a relatively large one to hit sometime soon.

I went to yet another hanami party and I think it's safe to say I've ingested enough sakura petals for one year. The blossoms have begun to turn into leaves now and the weather is getting warmer and warmer. I'm not looking forward to summer if it's going to be anything like last summer!

This last week has been eventful enough I suppose.

I broke things off with the guy I had been seeing for about eight months. He was pretty good about it, as I knew he would be. He said I was too good for him and deserve someone nicer. We're going to try and be friends, I think that's better for us because it has removed all the obligations to see each other regularly.

In other news, my new band went to the studio last Monday and it was pretty successful, we started writing a song even! (Did I mention I started a project band with my friend?) We have a gig at the end of June and we need to perform ten songs then. We dont have a name for the band yet - we cant find one we both really like... any suggestions?

Work is going well, we just started new kids classes this month and so far... some are great and some will be a test of my mental strength.

What's on the cards coming up? Golden Week is rapidly approaching so I'm trying to hammer out some plans of what to do. I'm mulling about going back to Osaka and/or maybe going to Izu Shoto or Kyushu. I'm still not sure if I want to travel with a friend or just go alone and have all the say in what I do. It might be nice to have a translator though. Thoughts?

Rodeo Crowns - Brand Name

Hanami season is among us! That being said I've already been to two hanami parties. (Hanami literally means "flower watch", so what we do is get together in a park and drink all day.)
My first hanami party was also a goodbye party. The aftermath of the earthquake took its toll on my friend so he decided to move back to America. He was my first friend at my hometown and really went out of his way to show me the ropes and make sure I settled in nicely. He doesn't really speak any Japanese and was quite bothered by the lack of information getting to him regarding black outs, water contamination etc so he decided it would be safer for him to return home. I can see what he means, it's frustrating being here and in a way trying to compete with people to get water and food while everyone around us is panicking and getting information before us. My Japanese is ok but I dont know the words for things like "radiation", "evacuation", and "contamination" hahah. I guess I should try to learn those at some point hey?
At my second hanami party I got to see my friend who lives up in Sendai right by the epicenter for the big earthquake. I cant imagine what it was like up there. He said his building was swaying about four meters back and forth and people were flying across the school into walls. He also said that twelve of his students are missing. It's really amazing the fragility of life, one day you're doing the same thing you always do and the next it's all over. I still cant believe it happened.