A Farewell Party

 We had the farewell ceremony today.  It was a nice affair.  Susan was emcee, and she performed admirably.  I told Jen I was not going to use any Japanese in these remarks.  The reason is because I did not feel I knew what to say until yesterday, so there wasn't much time for me to sort out what made sense to translate.  Jen suggested (and rightly so) it's probably a good idea to avoid and faux pas on my way out the door.  Had I said the equivalent of "shit" instead of "sit" at the beginning of the term there was time for me to make up the lost ground.  Now, I cannot correct any opinions of me.  I agreed that any mistakes I make now should be intentional.  Perhaps a vrai pas.

I still need to be ready for the study abroad talk on Friday at lunchtime.  Tomorrow I am meeting Susan an Natsuki for lunch.  Tomorrow afternoon Zoe and I will meet to try tatting.  Next Monday afternoon Thao and Yuko (I think) will go with me to try our hands at indigo dyeing.  Hanga has been very busy, and I appreciate the reality of that schedule.  Next Thursday the Care for Tokushima group will gather.  Susan suggested I teach them all tatting.  

Angus and Mark strongly suggested I figure out how to get to Hiroshima, if only for a day and night, to see the Atomic Bomb Dome.  There are trains from Tokushima Station to Hiroshima.  Total time is 3 hours one way.  It would include a ride on the shinkansen, or bullet train, from Okayama to Hiroshima.  160 km in less than an hour.  I'm not sure how to make that work, but I will be doing what I can.  

The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN was a formative place to visit.  Even as someone in his late 20's.  I imagine the place where humanity turned a corner and realized we used science to develop the power to destroy ourselves and everything else on the planet with us, but we still have not decided what we want with that power might be something a middle aged white guy should see.  If I go, you'll know.