what cherry blossoms?

i went to see a japanese cherry blossom festival at some castle ruins.

the cherry blossoms were a little late this year due to a colder winter so several of the trees were this bare.  i did get to see some that had bloomed but they were kind of sad.

this trip ended up being a three for one trip.  i got to see the cherry blossoms, the castle ruins, 

and a traditional japanese wedding.  they had the wedding in the middle of the ruins and everyone who was there for the cherry blossom festival got to watch.

they did the traditional tea ceremonies, had the okinawan drummers, and i got to dance with the wedding party.  no pictures of that, unfortunately.

the highlight of the trip was getting a hotdog taco:

trashy

the u.s. government does not support blogging, hence my absence.  i recently got fiber optic internet installed so i have freedom of blogging back.  i also have a home!  and furniture!  my house is adorable.  i'll post pictures. 


today, i want to talk trash.  literally.


the trash system here is complicated and kinda stresses me out.   i have to sort my trash into:  burnable, non-burnable, glass, and recyclables, which is really just plastic bottles.  glass has to be double bagged and labeled.  cardboard has to be tied together.  they will not pick up certain items.  every city has different requirements and different mandatory garbage bags.  btw: the mandatory trash bags cost Y660 (which equals about $8) for 20 and they only sell my city's bags at like two stores.  they are hard core aka rule followers. if you don't follow one of the many rules, they won't take your trash.  in fact, they will leave you a nasty gram (said in the most polite way) that they won't pick up your trash until you fix whatever mistake you made.  i lucked out; my supervisor has six trash cans in her house.  i still got a lengthy instruction sheet about how to get rid of trash.  when i first moved in, i had to reference the instruction sheet every time i threw something away.  


needless to say, the trash situation here kind of stinks.


on a disgusting note, on the military bases, all trash is thrown away together and then hired contractors sort it.  


worst. job. ever.