It has been a busy week. We finished teaching all of our extra intensive classes. That means we only have an open campus visit day before our summer vacation officially starts.

I spent some of this last week helping Heidi clean her apartment and pack. On Saturday, several of us went to the airport to see her off. She made if off but without her luggage. We thought that she could have 30 kg per bag, but it ended up that she could only have 30 kg total on that certain airline. Thus, Heidi decided to have us send her luggage via surface mail instead of paying the $2000 over charge per bag. Heidi should now be in Casa Blanca visiting family. It hasn't quite hit that she has gone and will not return. I will miss her dearly!

After watching Heidi's plane take off, Chieko, Ayumi, Nick and I went to Costco. I have been looking forward to this trip all week. It was like a mini-America with a bunch of Japanese people. Everything was in huge quantities and relatively cheap. At one point I pull something off the shelf and turned to Ayumi to ask her what it was. Then it hit me that I could read everything in this store! That hasn't happened since I left home almost one year ago. Wow, it's amazing how exciting it can be to read instructions, explanations, even the nutrition information. At the end, I had a berry slushy and Nick had a piece of pizza that would be the equivalent of three Japanese slices. We heard some English behind us and turned around. He wasn't talking to us, but we are almost programmed to do this. Usually if we hear English it is directed at us. This trip was a reverse cultural experience. It was fun to taste samples, see familiar food, be able to read and understand everything, and pick up some familiar foods like Mac & Cheese, Campbell's soup, M&Ms, full size towels, etc.

Tonight there were hanabi (fireworks) down at the pier. It was a gorgeous night with a nice breeze. People either sat on the wooden pier or stood on the cement. There is no grass to spread a blanket and relax. The fireworks lasted one hour. They would shoot of a set and then have a little break while the fireworks were reloaded and over the loud speakers it was announced who was paying for the display. It was fun to hear all of the oohs and aahs and see the sparks explode into bursts of color in the night sky. They were beautiful! We finished the night walking back home and stopping at McDonald's (pronounced Makudonarudo's) where I had a mango shake. Yummy!