marching into march

Aaand it's a new month! A good thing, too, because February was pretty crazy, aka lots of staying late at work to try and finish things.

Stuff I've been up to since my last post:
- Ice skating with Chiba AJET at Aqua Rink Chiba, an indoor ice rink that's powered by the energy from a nearby incineration plant! Which is super cool, I think. I can't remember the last time I ice skated (some time years and years ago), but it came back pretty fast and I had a good time. :D
- Chiba City International Fureai Festival, futomaki sushi-making, and English storytime at the library, all on the same day: written about in more detail here!
- A blues dance lesson and another swing dance party in Tokyo, both super fun (even though I still think blues is definitely one of the harder dances for me).
- A salsa dance party at Ocean Deep, which was a blast - way more people than on Wednesdays and lots of good dancers!
- Another school visit, this time with 6th graders! It's amazing what a year's difference makes, though maybe this was also because the 6th graders are all about to graduate and move on to junior year (since in Japan the school year ends in march).
- More kimono lessons: now I've learned two different ways to tie an obi, and at this point I feel like I actually do sort of remember how to do it all, which is a pretty nice feeling.

You can even see the obi in the mirror! Props to my teacher for that.

March is looking to be just as busy as February, since it's the end of the fiscal year and everybody is trying to wrap things up (which means lots of translations for me), plus a visit from a delegation from Houston (one of our sister cities)! And it's starting to warm up a little, which means spring is on its way - looks like it's going to be a good month. :)