Solar Eclipse : Moon eats Sun

Yesterday there was a solar eclipse that we could see in Japan! I learned that the word for solar eclipse is 日食 -- the first kanji means sun, and the second kanji means 'to eat' or 'food'. So, I suppose that the meaning comes from the sight of the moon eating the sun. Delicious!
The students and teachers grabbed some nerd-glasses and were able to view the eclipse during the few sunny parts of the day. From the sound of it, most others in Kyoto couldn't see the eclipse through the cloud cover. Alas!
Anyway, it was neat. A lovely spectacle for my last day at Honjo JHS. I felt sad cleaning out my desk and taking my shoes out of their cubby, but I'll be seeing those folks on Friday for what will go down in enkai history as "the drinkiest day of all." Honjo JHS loves their beer.

After that I went home and finished up my "thank you presents" for people around my town and schools. I'm making each person an origami paper crane and throwing it in a plastic bag with some hershey kisses and hugs (thanks to my sister). It's not much, but I have 70+ people to thank, so I was thinking thriftily.

In the evening I drove to Sutenten in Iwataki to meet my friend Yasuka to have dinner with her. We only lasted an hour before we were both full and sleepy. It was nice to see her one on one again (usually I see her with a lot of other people around). I will certainly feel the sting of leaving all my Japanese friends. Boo.