I'm one gutsy girl. One gutsy girl who no longer has to suffer through mystery meat cabbage soup lunches any longer (see below). One gutsy girl who also no longer has to PAY for aforementioned lunches. Yes, folks- all this time that I've been forcing myself to just eat, eat for the sake of the kids (trying to be a good example and all) they have been deducting the school lunch & whole milk beverage from my paycheck! Who'dathunk. Ok, so yesterday was the last straw. We had "hamburgers" and potato salad which I won't describe except to say that no, I did not "enjoy". I saw my supervisor, Mr. Sonehara walking down the hall alone, snagged him, and practically begged him if I could be excused from lunch from now on. And, he AGREED! He recommended I tell the secretary so she could stop taking it out of my salary, which totally shocked me as I'd never been asked to pay (but it was totally my bad assumption on that one...), then proceeded to warn me that the students and other teachers might think a lunch of "bread with butter" to be strange but that I should go ahead and eat that if I wanted. "Bread and Butter"!? Not sure where he got that one... but I assured him I was thinking more along the lines of pasta, salad, or sandwiches. Anyway, I spent yesterday afternoon dreaming of my own lunch and yelling "Free! Free!!!!!! No more school lunch!!"

Tonight the girls and I are heading up the mountain for our 2nd Friday Girls's Night at the Onsen (Bath), to be followed by dinner & video. We're up from 3 to 4 ladies... I'm counting the minutes. We all have a long weekend (no school Monday or Tuesday) and after some last minute planning have decided to head by bus to Tokyo on Saturday for daytrips to Yokohama, Nikko, and/or Kamakura (using Tom's vacant apartment instead of a hotel/inn to save cash). I'm looking forward to being a tourist for the weekend and hanging out with the girls!