Happy 4th of July to you all... there's nothing that would possibly give away the holiday-ness of today except the package of 4th of July star-shaped Peeps on my table at home (thanks mom!). But that's ok because its another Friday!! Next week we have semester finals (the term ends July 25th but they like to do tests early here and get the grades to the kids before vacation), so all of the teachers have canceled their team teaching classes (they wouldn't want to actually let the kids listen to actual English so close to the test, now would they...?). I am therefore, free today. I had one very high energy 1st grade class this morning and I'll be spending 50 minutes with the "special kids" after lunch, but today is a pretty stress-free teaching day.

So now I'm whiling away the hours before leaving by stressing about last minute fuji packing issues. Do I take something to sleep in, do I take a book for the bus ride (then have to lug it up the mountain and down), do I want a winter hat, should I take a disposable camera (mine broke) or rely on Jaclyn and Tom's pictures and the silly ones I can take with my cell phone, and on and on. Fortunately there is a limit to the amount of stuff I can physically take, or I'd never be able to cut myself off. I'm really getting psyched about the trip. I've been monitoring the weather via the internet and so far it looks like it will be cloudy to partly cloudy. I hope that the clouds just stay high enough so that we don't climb into them and get drenched. Please think good weather thoughts for us!! As it turns out, Tom and I plan to start the climb from the bottom and then rest at the 8th station for food and some sleep then hike to the top for the sunrise- But the girls are attending a 4th of July bash (on the 5th) at the American Embassy and won't start climbing until late afternoon (from the 5th station)... so there's a good chance we won't see each other until we hit the top. Or down the other side. Should be interesting. There are rumors of cell phones working on the mountain, so we may be able to keep in contact that way. Who knows.. maybe I'll send out some e-mails from the top!! Check your inboxes.... ;)