Quality Times

Mid summer has proven to be a busy time for us Robinsons (haha, what else is new).  Lots of goodbye parties and summer and school festivals.  I've been trying to spend as much time as I can with my friends who will be leaving Japan in just a few short weeks.  But I still don't wanna think about that.  So here's what's been happening with us the last two weeks or so.

A few of my friends took me out two weeks ago, since I'd been worried about my mom and having a hard time being so far away.  It just so happened to be July 4th, and one friend (the only one NOT American, haha) suggested we dress in red, white, and blue.  Thus the color coordination in the above photo.

We went to this really yummy restaurant, and they decided that my name should be America and promptly announced to the staff that it was my birthday.  Then we got this:

Haha, I called myself America for the rest of the night.

Besides myself, all but one of these girls is leaving Japan at the end of this month.  They have become some of my best friends, and it's gonna be really hard to see them go.  Especially when they make awesome things like this:

I am the proud owner of this, yes I am.

Then there was three days of school festival at Keihoku.  But I'm reserving that for its own post.  Stay tuned for that.

Yesterday, Nate was involved with a 6 hr. relay marathon at the Sapporo Dome.  Each person in the team would run one lap (about 2K) and then pass the ribbon (no batons for relays in Japan) to the next runner.  The group who covered the most distance was the winner.  They placed 301 out of about 600 teams, so not bad I'd say!  Takuya, Ethan, and I came during the last of the relay to cheer them on.

After the relay, Takuya came over and cooked tempura for us.

Takuya has pretty much become a part of family.  Our friendship has gone beyond just singing together  - kinda like the brother I never had.

So that's why I'd never trade my experience living here for anything in the world.  I've made some amazing friends these past two years; people who I hope will continue to be a part of my life for many years to come!