It's rather lonely at school without the third (ninth) graders and their teachers. They all went to Kyoto yesterday, so they won't be back at school till Friday. Since my desk is in the same group as the third grade teachers, it feels very empty. I hope they bring back good souvenirs.

Yesterday I went cherry blossom viewing with my fiance. We went to 高遠城址　the Takato Castle Ruins. Here's a link to a sight with a bunch of pictures of Takato. The cherry of Takato

It's one of the most popular places in Japan to go see cherry blossoms. There were bus tours full of old people from all over the country. I went there last year for a night viewing, and it was even more crowded. Here's a picture I took with my cell phone. I took a bunch of pictures with my camera, but I forgot the SD card at home. Maybe I'll upload something later. It was the perfect day for cherry blossom viewing. Warm and sunny. The parking wasn't bad either. Luckily, Takato is only about 45 minutes from Suwa... unluckily it is up and over on the other side of some mountains. Driving on tiny mountain roads with giant tour buses whizzing around corners is pretty scary, so I made the boy drive. (^_^)

After we got home, I cleaned and washed and then played my new computer game. It's pretty fun. I think I'll play some more when I go home today. I get half days this week, so I'll have lots of gaming time. The reason I get half days is the teachers will be going to student's houses for their yearly visits in the afternoons. I'm still not entirely sure why a visit to student's houses are necessary, but that's the way they do it here. Somethings the school does confuses me, but it seems to work for them.