finishing the fiscal year

As expected, the last half of March has been a whirlwind! The new fiscal year starts in April in Japan, so on top of the visit from the Houston delegation, we also had to prepare to move our office (we're going from the community center to actual city hall, for better or for worse) and also get ready for some personnel changes - three people are being transferred out (which happens periodically in Japanese companies/organizations), which was surprising and very sad. :( I'm sure I will enjoy getting to know our new people though! A new office and new people and a new fiscal year all in a new month - April definitely won't be boring, at least! After showing up yesterday to help finish moving, today was my first day in the new office! Since I hate change I think it will take some adjusting, but really, I think it will all feel normal very soon. The new office does have really huge windows, some of which overlook the park nearby, which I like.

So naturally the biggest event in the last half of March was the visit from the delegation from Houston! It involved me setting and breaking records for the latest I've stayed at the office, spending a full day working by myself in the office on a weekend, and enough overtime hours that I don't have to use any vacation days for my upcoming trip to Ishigaki, but actually I really enjoyed myself while they were here. :D More details here!

Other fun things I've been up to:
- A few random days/afternoons off to use up some built-up overtime, mostly just spent wandering around and shopping
- A day spent with my friend Ella in Tokyo! The sakura (cherry blossoms) have been in bloom for the past few weeks (starting to disappear now, sadly), so we went to Ueno Park to take a look! We just walked around instead of properly sitting and eating (and drinking) in true Japanese hanami (flower-viewing) style, but really it was very pretty, even on a cloudy day.

- A farewell party for the Economic Planning Section! Actually it was probably a little strange for me to be there, since I had never actually spoken to most of them and didn't know the person whose farewell party it was (and may actually not see many of them again any time soon due to personnel changes), but I did enjoy getting to know them a little and even won a bottle of wine from name bingo.
- The same salsa dance party I went to at the end of February (it's a monthly thing), which was just as fun. I hardly danced at all during March because I was so busy, so it was great to get back into it.
- Swing dancing under the cherry blossoms! This time it was a proper hanami in Yoyogi Park, complete with dancing! Again it was cloudy and actually a little bit chilly out, but the combination of dancing, drinking, and practically non-stop eating helped keep me warm. :)
- Ichiru Festa: a big kimono event run by my kimono school - apparently students from all over the country came to participate! Basically there were kimonos, obis, and their accessories from all over the country on sale for really cheap, plus a few hands-on activities. I tried painting a han-eri, which is something you put over your collar, and though I didn't end up buying anything, I did 'try on' a lot of different fabric, which was lots of fun. We also had a yummy bento lunch at a nearby hotel, even though the participation fee for the whole event was only 500 yen!

And that was the end of March in a nutshell! The big thing coming up for me this month is my trip to Ishigaki, where I'll be volunteer interpreting for the triathlon there. I'll be leaving in a week, for a week, and I'm sure once I get back I'll have lots to post about. Stay tuned! :)