Doing things in the RAIN!

So theoretically 梅雨 (tsuyu), the Japanese rainy season, is over, but you really could never tell from how much it has been raining lately.

Last weekend, Alexis and I headed over to Mie Prefecture for a hike, and of course it rained. Which didn't really bother me all that much, as I adore hiking in the rain. . . but still. You would think just ONCE I could plan to go hiking and have it NOT rain.

First, we headed over to see the wind turbines, and they were AMAZING! They were a little smaller, I think, than the ones I've seen in Texas, but still awesome. And because of the rain and the fog, they were all creepy and mysterious. <3ed it! What made it even cooler was that they kept disappearing and reappearing, so you would be walking and not even realize at first that you were about to walk right into one.

The we headed over to 青蓮寺ダム　（Shourenji dam, I think), and it had the most AMAZING view! At first I wanted to jump into the water, but then Maranda pointed out a very large mass of floating oil, and then I no longer wanted to jump into the water. Still, the water was still and gorgeous and with the mists in the mountains, it just felt so peaceful and nice. I think that misty mountains with water in front of them has to be my favorite view in the entire world. And the Japanese know what they're doing when they throw a red bridge into the mix - sheer gorgeousness!

The we headed further into the depths of Mie for a hike (in the rain!). We were supposed to see 48 waterfalls, but, while we did see an ENORMOUS amount of waterfalls, I don't think there were that many.

The hike was super easy and breathtakingly beautiful, which I was more than grateful for, as the car ride there made me totally motion sick.
At the end of the hike, there was a salamander museum, and we got to see some of the CUTEST salamanders native to Japan. They have five fingers,and when they move them it's really just the cutest thing ever. I wanted to hug one and bring him home with me!

Then this past Friday, despite the fact that a typhoon was very obviously coming in, I went to Nagoya to meet up with Rachael to go see Skull Candy and Bunny the Party. Skull Candy played a very short set, but Bunny the Party was ON! The singer was ridiculously energetic, and just watching her up on stage filled my heart with happiness.

At one point, though, she pointed directly at me and said "あの白いお姉さん、超素敵！”　　That basically means "That white person is super awesome!" Maybe I should have felt flattered, but I think more than anything I felt embarrassed. In any case, I love Bunny the Party!

The last band to play was Splash, and they were SO amazing! Super fast totally addictive ska punk, and I was into it (unfortunately the lyrics leave much to be desired, but, well, meh). Now, I know that a lot of times this kind of band will single out one person in the audience, but after the Bunny the Party comment, it felt weird that this person should once again be me. Especially since he was speaking in super fast Japanese, and he had no way of knowing if I would understand him. He asked who I came to see and then he asked if it was my first time seeing them. . .and yeah. I guess it's normal to do that to someone in the audience. I dunno. . .

Anyhow, it was SUPER fun, and I fell in love with Splash and will definitely be seeing them again. And Bunny the Party. And Skull Candy. And the Rattle Trapz, who also played and were fab!

Last night, Martin and I once again braved the typhoon and went to Nagoya to meet up with Rachael (again!) and some of her friends! Her friends were all awesome, so we had a great time! First, we went to an izakaya, where we were practically accosted by crazy people.

Note that we didn't know about half of the people in this picture

Then we went bowling, and I feel bad for Martin, who was on a team with me. I think I must have bowled the worst game ever of my entire life. I was very consistent in bowling 0s.

Will, Tatsu, and Chiko, seen in the left of the picture, weren't much better than I was, but Stephen (picture, right) was an interesting bowler.

He would either get 0s or strikes. But there was very rarely much in between. He also had techinque, which all of the rest of us were completely lacking.

On the right, there--> Tatsu, me and Chiko.
Rachael's friends were all really amazing.

Except that, for some reason, the boys (Will, Tatsu, and Stephen) felt the need to be anti-social and go off and smoke. I hate cigarettes. I hate smoking. I eventually went over and threw their cigarettes away (yes, I actually threw them in the trashcan - why they didn't seem to hate me afterward, I'm not entirely sure), but in the meantime, I had to make some new friends.

The guys sitting across from us were ridiculously amazing bowlers, and they were also quite nice. Plus, they were eating ice cream and NOT smoking. I really don't know why I so regularly feel the need to talk to random strangers, but I do, so. . .what you gonna do?

Other things I have recently done in the rain:

I went shopping in Nagoya with Rachael, and she received an extraordinarily large number of kleenex

And that's sort of it, actually. I'm sure I've done other rainy things, but none of them are coming to mind.

In the meantime, this is getting extraordinarily long, and I've got some homework to finish.
以上です。