16 June 2009

Today is my last full day in Suwa, Nagano with my relatives. I am so sad! After waking up late as usual, Miyo had mochi, fried rice, soup, vegetables, tsukemono, scallops, and leftover veggie rolls for brunch. It was very good, and she always recooks leftovers very well. Once we finished eating, Toshio drove Masaru and I to the Lake Suwa and Akahiko Museum which was designed by Toyo Ito. Toshio dropped us off, then left to take care of his own errands. The building itself was supposed to look like the bottom side of a boat, and it curved smoothly into the small grassy hillside. Its aesthetic was very sleek, and there was some beautiful about its slenderness against the surrounding buildings and landscape. The museum itself was much less impressive. It only cost 350 yen to get in, and the special exhibition gallery was closed. There were only two small permanent galleries upstairs, which didn’t really have anything of extreme significance. I almost felt kind of bad for the poor little museum. We were the only two people inside of it. After leaving the museum, we began to walk back to the house since we did not have a car. Walking along Suwa Lake was really refreshing, even though it was fairly windy. Dark clouds were rolling in overhead, since it was supposed to rain later that afternoon. We made a quick stop at Jusco so I could browse for any last minute gifts for some of my friends, then we made it back just in time to barely miss the beginning of the rain. It seems like no matter where I go in Japan, the weather is always variable and unpredictable.
The afternoon was a very lazy one since we didn’t have anything else planned for the day. We sat around and talked, and I also worked on some of my residual homework. For dinner, Miyo made chicken yaki tori, gyoza, soup, croquettes, tsukemono, and fresh fruit. It was so delicious! I will definitely miss her good home cooking! The rest of the evening we sat around and talked a lot. I think we are all surprised that the time passed so quickly. I am excited that we will all be going to Tokyo tomorrow, except for Mitsunori since he has to work. We Skyped with my parents so they could thank him for everything he did for me, and I said my final goodbyes to him before he went to sleep. I did my last minute packing, then went to sleep too since I have to get up early tomorrow morning to leave for Tokyo.