Escape!

Gore warning.  Skip the next paragraph if you're squeamish.

Sometime last week, there was a dead cat at the end of our driveway.  The only injury it has was that the front part of its head was crushed, but obviously, that's more than enough.  There was blood and brain in the gutter.  It looked like it would still be warm if I had touched it.  It was gone by time I got home. The gutter is still stained.

We had agreed to meet in the CIE lounge at 10 a.m. Saturday and I was there early, as per usual.  I spoke with people back home, wished a happy birthday and had some serious discussion before Arianna arrived.  We waited an hour for Daniel before deciding it was time to head out.

Instead of being normal, we decided to leave the building through the window in the bathroom.  I asked if she wanted to go on an adventure, she looked at me for a half second or so and then we bolted for the window.  Totally thinking the same thing.  We wandered through one of the campus gardens and tried to explore the contained teahouse, but it was blocked off and we probably crossed one too many barriers as it was.

We walked to Seminar House Four and then meandered down the small side street before it, ending up in a park and then finally back at the kofun which was our goal.  It wasn't particularly exciting, but I wasn't expecting it to be.  Arianna found a dead dragonfly and we gave it one last flight before moving on.  The kofun had a path up its center as well as a well-outlined path around its edges, really showing off its keyhole shape.

Then it was across the street to Avail to wait for Daniel.  The three of us wandered through the store (there was a skirt I was looking for).  I found a pair of pants, Daniel got a shirt and pair of jeans.  I discovered my shoe size is LL.

From there, we walked to the next town, Machino, and found a second-hand store Arianna was told had kimono, yukata and the other traditional necessities for relatively cheap.  Apparently, the Japanese don't like second-hand clothing, so there's quite a lot of it (what actually gets recycled) and it's really quite cheap.  There were two yarn stores on the way, so I have a handful of places I can buy from now.

We stopped at a local restaurant (which I think the cool kids call Okaasan's, because the first two kanji of the name are "big," read as "oo," and "strength," read as "ka."  From there they make the connection to Okaasan, which means mother [specifically someone else's mother, or your own in a formal setting] and implies something of a homey setting).  I got something of an old-school burger joint feel from the place and the food.

Then we walked to Arianna's house, which is REALLY traditional but packed full of things the family has accumulated over the generations.  Her family's dog is mostly deaf and rather mean and he really didn't like Daniel.  There was a praying mantis in the gravel of the driveway when we arrived, but it was gone by time we came back outside.

Our next stop was Kuzuha Mall.  We got sweets from a bakery and window shopped our way through a few shops.  I picked up a pair of earrings and Daniel tiny gumballs from a machine.  Arianna took us to another yarn shop she'd found.  It has a smaller selection than the ABC store at Hirakatashi-eki, but it was nice to know I have so many options.  Also, it's the only store so far that has had something other than wooden knitting needles.

Daniel and I had a bubble-blowing contest and it quickly became apparently that I won.  Our contest switched gears from who could blow the bigger bubble to who could get the gum stuck on the oddest part of their face.  I won.  One of my bubbles was large enough that when it burst, it ended up caught on my eyebrow.  I think it getting caught on my eyelashes was more entertaining.

Sunday I stayed at home, working on editing a draft of a story Devin wrote a few years back.  I'm considering opening portions of it in MS Paint so I can write on the document.  But my highlighting and commenting method seems to be working so far.

It's midterms week.  I had my test in Shinto last week (took 15 minutes from the beginning of class to get settled, pass out the test and take it).  Yesterday I had my reading and speaking tests for my Japanese classes.  I forgot how to read the "aka" part of "akarui" (bright) but otherwise did alright on the reading section.  Speaking went well, despite likely overly simple language.

I was supposed to have my History midterm today, but because the professor was sick a week or two ago, the schedule is a day off and it will be on Monday.  I had a blog due for Visual Anthropology, but the professor messed up his schedule and gave us an extension until Friday.  There is no Shinto midterm, just a "consultation" class, which she has encouraged us to skip in favor of going to the Kurama Shrine Fire Festival.  It runs from 6 p.m. to midnight but the buses and trains stop before then.  I'd like to go, but I probably won't.

I'm planning on going to Ise Shrine this weekend, maybe heading to Nagoya as well and staying the night.