Storyboarding K

For much of yesterday and today, I worked on creating my first storyboard. The assignment was to choose a children's nursery rhyme or a short joke and create a storyboard for it. I chose a short poem from my copy of The Real Mother Goose and illustrated it with imagined scenes from the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The top photograph is of my completed boards and the photos below show the progression of my board.

K's Last Photos of Hiroshima

Last Good-Bye

Late this afternoon I met with an agent from the company that manages my apartment in order to go through the check out process and key handover. I was alone and did not have anyone with me to help with potential language issues. Things were mostly going okay until he got hung up on asking me if I had contacted the post office to have my mail forwarded to my new address. I knew what he was asking and I tried to tell him that it didn't matter because I didn't receive mail at home, but communication broke down and I had to go down my phone tree until I was able to get in touch with somebody who could act as a go-between. Thankfully, I work with great people who are always willing to help me out with Japanese when I need it.

The Road of Hope

Any preconceptions I might have had about what I thought art from Yoko Ono would be like were completely smashed when I went to see the special exhibition going on right now at the Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, The 8th Hiroshima Art Prize: The Road of Hope - Yoko Ono 2011.

Highly recommended.

Mash! Mash! Mash!

This is the vidpo I made on Friday. Every time I walk into the kitchen, I have to laugh at myself.

Miffy

There's a Dick Bruna/Miffy exhibit on right now at the Hiroshima Museum of Art. I went yesterday. I much preferred the Yoko Ono exhibition at the Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art which I also went to yesterday.

Goodbye Legend Yokogawa

It's July 31st which means that as of today, I'm out of my apartment. It is completely empty and I'm staying in a nearby hotel until I leave Hiroshima. Sigh. I really liked my place and I'll miss it.

Clean & Empty

I'm spending my Sunday noon hour doing laundry at a new and clean laundromat just north of Yokogawa on the Kabe Kaido.

Taking Out the Trash in Hiroshima

Hiroshima has fairly specific household garbage disposal guidelines. (Curious? Check out this prior post.) Six weeks ago I started mapping out how I was going to get rid of all the stuff in my apartment that I'm not bringing back to the US. I am absolutely committed to only bringing what will fit in my two suitcases. Fortunately, I was able to give away, sell, or recycle a lot of what I had. However, now it's crunch time for getting rid of what's left. I've done a fairly good job of sticking to the guidelines put out by the city. I am going to have to toss my remaining drapery into the burnable bags on Friday, though, instead of into the recycling. I do need a little privacy in my apartment, and they do a great job of keeping the apartment cooler when the afternoon sun blazes in. The next recycling day isn't until after I leave, so I'm just going to throw 'em out. After Friday, I'll have to take any garbage I generate at home to the trash bins at the convenience store down the street. Hopefully, though, there won't be much else for me to get rid of.

Vidpo!

I'm still making daily video postcards on my little Zumi Triple Plus. There are three reasons I haven't been uploading them on a more regular basis: I can't seem to do it any more via my phone; I don't have internet at home so when I have the time, I don't have the means; and I'm super busy at work so when I have the means I don't have the time. This vidpo is from yesterday. I was super hungry after work so I shot over to the Yokogawa Chikara for a bowl of cold udon noodles.

How I Unwound Tonight

This was quickly followed by a large bowl of cold udon noodles.

Ma-On...A Bust?

Despite the fact that classes were cancelled and the local Hiroshima trains haven't been running all day, there hasn't been much typhoon action around here. It's been windy, but precipitation has been nil. I am enjoying the cooler temps, though and I'm thinking I might not have to run the a/c tonight.

Typhoon Ma-On

By all accounts, there's a fairly strong typhoon headed Hiroshima's way. We'll likely be affected tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday. Luckily, I've already gotten rid of all my patio furniture so there's nothing for me to batten down.

Some further reading:

Very strong and very large Typhoon Ma-On (1106) may be coming to Japan

Powerful typhoon moving toward Japan's main islands

Typhoon 08W (Ma-On) (FYI, the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni is close to Hiroshima)

Hopefully classes won't be cancelled tomorrow. I have vocabulary tests scheduled! If you'd like to keep tabs on me, you can always read my Twitter feed in the sidebar on the right. Hopefully, we'll just have heavy rainfall and moderate winds. Fingers crossed!

I'll Miss My Bike

I have approximately 3.5 weeks left to enjoy my bike before I say my final good-byes to it. I've already lined up the bike's next owner who, I'm pretty certain, will get great use out of it (and hopefully take great care of it). I've been regularly scoping out craigslist in hope of coming across my next perfect bike. Nothing so far, but I'm in no rush.

Developed Film: Kabe

I snapped this photo about two weeks ago as I was walking to the supermarket nearest the university to buy bananas.

Developed Film: Miyajima

Also in the batch of pictures I just had developed, surprise photos I took out in Miyajima last fall (I think).

He is the reason for the season

Earthquake

Smack in the middle of pilates class the building started shaking. I thought I was the only one who noticed, but the instructor stopped the class until the quake subsided. Hiroshima is over in the light blue dot area.

I Can('t) Draw!

This is why I take pictures instead of drawing them.

Chikara

Chikara is a Hiroshima-based chain of udon restaurants. One recently opened up near Yokogawa station, which is good for me because as we slide into summer, I'm less and less inclined to cook. Another bonus: Not only does Chikara have easy-to-read menus with photographs and hiragana (the phonetic Japanese alphabet), but they also have an English menu (not that I need it....if there's one context in which my Japanese skills are useable, it's the context of food!).