Fun day!

Today was a fun, full day. I went to the Tama station (near the school) to meet up with Jen this morning. She had an extra bike at her house that I could use. It makes such a difference to have a bike with the seat in the right position! :) We met up at ASIJ with Lisa (another English teacher) and her two daughters. We then biked to Jindaiji. We went to paint pottery there (like a Color Me Mine at the base of a temple!) and then had lunch at a soba shop near the temple. The temple is one of the oldest in Tokyo (dates back to 733) and it is completely unexpected to find that old feel in the middle of the suburbs (about a 20 minute bike ride from the school)! I took a bunch of pictures, picked up my ceramic piece (a small square plate) and then started feeling pretty sleepy from the heat. Jen was feeling the same, so we left Lisa and her daughters at the pottery place and headed back to Jen's house. We talked for a bit in the nice air conditioned kitchen in her Western style house, and then I headed home for a nap.

A couple of hours later, I went with Jen and her son Michael to the Kichijoji area. We shopped around in the little stores and then had dinner at an Indian restaurant. I was shocked at the portion sizes! I was feeling pretty hungry and couldn't finish my food! The naan looked like a giant bicycle seat and was halfway off the platter when they brought it to me. It was all very tasty and pretty reasonable (1500 yen- about 15 dollars). Some of the shops have some fun T-shirts that make me laugh with the nonsense English on it (aka Engrish) :) I will have to get some pictures of those to post at some time!