IF IT'S KAYOBI, THIS MUST BE BELGIUM, ER ... PHOENIX

My Japanese intensive course (Summer I) ended this past Friday with a final exam that - Shinto gods be thanked - was easier than the midterm! My 20-hour study weeks are over! Immediately afterwards, I hopped in my car and drove two hours to Indianapolis airport to catch a flight back to Phoenix for the weekend.

Back to Phoenix by air?! you are wondering. That must have been expensive. Well, the fare was the cheapest I could find, but I really had no choice. I left my passport in my Tempe apartment, and to get my Japanese work visa at their Chicago consulate, I will need it. But the trip killed several avians with one lapidary object. I've been away from my Arizona apartment, leaving it empty for a month now, and I've been a bit concerned that some infestation of something or other hadn't taken place while I was away. (Everything was fine, thank God.) And I wanted to prove to my apartment manager (and neighbors) that I was still around (in the flesh) and involved with my apartment and keeping up with my lease.

So, arrived in Phoenix (100 degrees at 11 pm!) late Friday night, spent all of Saturday in Tempe, then flew back to Indy early Sunday morning (missing my first flight due to not setting my alarm clock's ON button (just the time) the night before). But I'm now back in Illinois again, and was back at my ESL job at Parkland College again this Monday morning.

From now on, my schedule will be a lot more open: just ESL teaching Monday-Thursday mornings. I'll continue Japanese on my own after receiving a good foundation formally the first month. I can even read some 'kanji' (Chinese characters used to represent nouns, adjectives and verbs)!

Something interesting about Japanese. The days of the week are each named after a natural object:

Sunday - Day of the Sun (Nichi-yobi)
Monday - Day of the Moon (Getsu-yobi)
Tuesday - Day of Fire (Ka-yobi)
Wednesday - Day of Water (Sui-yobi)
Thursday - Day of Wood (Moku-yobi)
Friday - Day of Gold (Kin-yoobi)
Saturday - Day of Earth (Do-yobi)

Sort of a combination of the Western days based on celestial objects (sun, moon) and the old basic elements of earth, fire, water, etc. Not sure where "Wood Day" comes from, but ... Maybe from "Work WOOD be over today if it were Friday, but we have one damned day left."

The months are a bit more prosaic. January is 'One Month' (Ichi-gatsu), February is 'Two Month' (Ni-gatsu), etc.

This Thursday after class, I'm planning to drive up to Chicago to visit the Japanese consulate and finally take care of my work visa. KGU mailed the visa request approval letter to me last week via express mail. Looks like I'm actually going to Japan! No date yet.

More later ...

Shitsurei-shimasu! (By your leave ...)