catching up

Well, I survived the summer. It's been a while, so I'm going to try to play catch up a bit with my blog.

This summer was very similar to my other summers in Japan. Hot, muggy and busy. I had a few days to relax, but for the most part I was off doing many different things this summer.

The highlight of the summer would be getting my very own yukata. A yukata is a traditional type of kimono that is worn in the summer. Back in the old days, when they wore kimono all the time, yukata was much cooler to wear. (now, it's a bit hot if you compare it to wearing short sleeves and shorts...)

Summer is great for watching people get dressed up in yukata for festivals and fireworks. Although I've lost quite a bit of weight since coming to Japan, I'm still rather large, so I can't buy a pre-made yukata. (one size fit's all). So I asked a church member who likes to sew, if she could make one for me. I bought the fabric and she made it for me by hand!!!! in one week!!!! She is amazing! (she also takes care of the flowers around my house.) The she taught me how to put it on, and even lent me an obi (the belt part) to wear with it. Here is the final product. I wore it to the Trash Box Jam summer live. It's becoming a tradition to wear yukata (or a swimsuit) to this live. If you wear one you get a special prize. This year it was a custom made pick. Very cool.

In other news, this summer I started walking for exercise. I try to walk a little over an hour 2-4 days a week (weather permitting). Since I started, I've lost 4 kilograms! (a little less than 10lbs I'm guessing... I'm bad at converting.) I would like to loose another 10 kilos by April. Of course the next problem is going to be finding a way to buy new clothes that fit! haha.

This summer was crazy with rain and storms. The newspapers called it "guerrilla rain." Apparently Tokyo had the most lightening in 50 years this summer. The up side was no typhoons so far this year. The down side was lots of headaches and the band was canceled several times. sad. This week the weather has been changing. Today was nice because there was very little humidity! It was wonderful. Except for the headache of course. I get headaches every time the weather changes. I think it's because of my sinuses, but I'm not sure. I'm going to go to a doctor this month to get it checked out. I'm definitely tired of headaches.

Well, I think that's all for today. I will try to put up some more pictures and stuff from this summer. There are several fun stories I would like to share.