Making Mochi, Okinawan food, cherry blossom parties = best weekend ever

This weekend, I will go to a Hanami and take a walk around a park that is famous for cherry blossoms. They are all in bloom now. The cherry trees really make everything feel fresh and light. even if you've been here for ages, it is still so beautiful to walk around a Japanese park in the Springtime. This weekend, I will make my own Japanese mochi with the little vegan child and his father. This is something I have always wanted to do in Japan. It is certainly the number one "Japanese culture" thing I have always wanted to try. I have little interest in the tea ceremony or in learning karate, but I have a lot of interest in making and eating my own mochi.Here's a picture of my friend Atsushi in Tokyo last year. (Next week I'll have another hanami with Atsushi and his friends in Tokyo.) I can't believe that it has been almost a year since I last saw Thuy. We still talk and write often. Last year, because she was moving back to Denmark, we decided to see all of the cherry blossom parks in Tokyo in only one day. We made it to Inokashira , Shinjuku, Yoyogi and Ueno. I'll go eat Okinawan food with my friend from Okinawa. One of my 1950s rock n roll friends introduced me to one of the dance team members now living in Osaka. I am learning to do the twist, but tomorrow is just eating delicious tofuyou, goya and jimamidoufu.

-One thing I think is ridiculous is when people post rants about their jobs, bosses, co-workers, students, customers on the internet. The internet is forever, as far as we know. What you write will come up on search engines years from now. That's why I don't write anything on here that I'd be humiliated if someone accidentally found. If my co-workers were all awful, I wouldn't write about them on the internet. But they're not awful. My new co-workers are all great. I'm really happy and lucky that I'm able to say that.

-美空ひばりMisora Hibari is one of my favorite Japanese singers. Lately, I have been listening to her a lot, and I highly recommend her. She has a gorgeous, low voice and her music is beautiful. She plays around with all sorts of genres. Sometimes, she sounds like Edith Piaf and sometimes she sounds very traditionally Japanese. I have also been listening to Amalia Rodriguez and her song "Fado dos Fados" makes me hold my breath. It is so good. Lately, I have been listening to this kind of music a lot. I've also been listening to The Tenniscoats, Pocopen & Nishiwaki and Yura Yura Teikoku.
And non-Japanese songs I've been listening to on repeat lately...
Beach House -Heart of Chambers
Ratatat - Montanita
The Ronettes - Be My Baby
Caribou - Melody Day
Serge Gainsbourg - La Decadance
Pavement - Harness your hopes

-Have any of you been to Ibaraki? I've been invited there. I know it's famous for natto.
What else is there?

Sometimes I meet people who are getting tired of Japan and want to move back home.
I have not felt that yet at all. Japan is the easiest place to live. I feel happiest and healthiest in Japan. I know I'll leave someday, but I think it may be a while. I only miss my family and friends.