amber waves of rice

This post may be a bit off kilter, as I am a tired mess. Not in a bad way, in a "I have been busy for the past month and don't know the last time I had a night to myself" way.

Summer has finally set in here, meaning the humidity that I was promised was delivered. Though I still think that Atlanta has my little Japanese town beat in that department. Today I helped plan a Japanese barbeque with Masaru (aka. the boy) and three of his friends and two of my Japanese girl-friends. There was not a hamburger, hot dog, bowl of potato salad or slice of watermelon in sight. Instead, I was treated to grilled squid (eyes included), octopus, fish (eyes included), pumpkin, clam, onion and mushroom. There was beef present as well, but we all know how I stand on that issue. Rain threatened all day, so we found a bridge to set up under. To say that we all had a good time would be an understatement. As I was the only gaijin, I was treated to a non-English day, probably the first since being in Japan. That is a lie. Three of the six spoke English and the other three knew enough words to communicate adequately enough. Still I was forced to use my limited Japanese knowledge, which was interesting and at times rather humorous for everyone else.