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I am absolutely exhausted. However, I just had the greatest day and I think if I don't share these pictures now they will be put off for a long time.
The day started with a hike on Hinoshima, or better known as Deer Island. We had the most beautiful views!!

What I was thinking was, "I'm going to post these pictures just to make everyone jealous that they don't live here!!!"

Well, did it work?
Are you jealous?

Catherine and I bought a bento and ate under the trees.

Just loved this shot.

We played a game of tennis in the boiling sun. We swam in the ocean at Takaitabi (for a couple minutes as we had already had maximum sun exposure on the hike and during tennis).

Then I baked an apple pie.

That's what it looked like before I baked it, but it's pretty much the same thing after baking. I was quite proud of this pie---the crust was being difficult (probably this weather is too warm for the cold butter) but it got good reviews!

Then we went to our tennis BBQ in our yukata (summer kimono) and ate and enjoyed time with our tennis friends and their children.

At the kid's table.

And we took a million shots of us at the ocean with the setting sun and our beautiful yukata!!

Me with Asagami-sensei.

We spent an hour at the town festival and I met two of my favorite students, Ta-chan and Ya-chan. Yasuhiro, the guy on my right is officially the cutest boy ever and I would put him in my suitcase and take him home if I could get away with it. They are not bright students, but they have hearts of gold!!

We went back to the BBQ for drinks and talking and watching fireworks over the ocean. It was an amazing day, but I am officially exhausted. I need sleep immediately.

YUKI GETS BACK TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall I placed 56th out of 68 athletes, and 9th out of 11 women. My total time was 4:21:25 and splits as follows:
swim-- 16:04 (placing 22nd)
bike-- 2:16:15 (54th)
swim&bike-- 2:32:19 (53rd, yeah I passed one person on the bike!)
run-- 1:49:06 (59th)

The fastest athlete, a 32-year-old man, finished in 2:40:48. The 73-year-old man with one leg finished 68th in 5:26:08.

Kara (who came out from Shimabara for the event) finished just before me at 4:17:04. I was 6 minutes faster on the swim, 14 seconds faster on the bike and then she whipped my bum on the run, passing me to finish 4 minutes earlier!!

Otsukaresamadeshita!

Nina has gone home and here I am with little more than a week of school left, and numbered days on my island. It seems like all of a sudden I have a million things to do before I go.

I've started packing and giving away or selling the things in my apartment. At times the amount of work to be done feels manageable in the amount of time I have, and sometimes it's overwhelming simply because I don't want to face it. Having received so many gifts and thank you letters from students and teachers, I hate having to decide which packet of drawings or letters are going to make it back to Oregon. I simply can't keep everything, but it's heartbreaking to think of leaving it behind.

This week my school has allowed me to go home in the afternoons to take care of packing. My evenings are booked every night with some goodbye party or dinner with friends. Besides some cleaning up at school, essentially all my responsibilities there are finished. It's just saying my goodbyes to the teachers and students, and taking in all the sights, smells and sounds for the last time.

However, I think moving is a good thing. I've only just started, but I already like that I'm cleaning up and throwing out things that I don't need or use anymore. If we stay in one place for too long we tend to put off deep cleaning and become susceptible to pack-rat habits. Especially moving from Japan, where I know I can't just shove boxes in my mom's basement, but am forced to make a decision for all my possessions. Since I have to pay expensive rates for shipping everything, I'm more likely to decide I don't need it at all.

I have limited myself to one box of Japan things that I'll send back to Oregon. I have two large duffle bags for clothes and books that I'll keep in Tokyo and bring with me on the plane, but I'm going to try my hardest to pare down my special Japanese memorabilia until it's just one box.

Soon I'll be sending out my new address in Tokyo and remind everyone of my cell phone number which will be the only valid number after the move. My email address will remain valid no matter where I am though, so it's always easy to contact me that way. I'll be moved out of my apartment in Narao by August 10th if not before.

Wish me luck!

I was saving a Reese's peanut butter cup that Nina brought me in my freezer. I just pulled it out for an after school snack. As I was enjoying my cup I read the inside of the wrapper and it said,

"Candy is a treat. Consume in moderation."

I just got told off by my own candy wrapper!!!