I am still alive. Just caught up in and exhausted by creating my new Tokyo day to day. Parts of what I've got so far:
1) My job. I'm busy at work and have gotten to the point where I need to put up or shut up.. aka decide to go whole hog and embrace the position and everything that comes with it or find a new job. I enjoy it most of the time but my co-workers work crazy hours (10:00-11:00 pm with no stop for lunch) and I'm not sure if I can hack that. This week as part of my responsibilities I called the Grand Hyatt in Muscat, Oman (look at a map!), the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay, faxed the Savoy in London, made reservations at The Peninsulas both in New York and Hong Kong, and learned how to make invoices. ;) Those were just the things that made me stop and go... hm, that's interesting!

2) Second Harvest. I went and helped out at the food bank again today. We served ravioli covered in curry (apparently the traditional serving of ravioli with tomato sauce got complaints... ), with sides of lots of bread and crystal light packets to the tent city at Ueno Park this afternoon. Then we headed back to the warehouse and tackled addressing envelopes and data entry in preparation for the fundraising gala in a month. They are WAY behind schedule and totally dependent on volunteers (no paid staff), so though it didn't feel like we made much of a dent... every little bit counts.

3) Hashing. This one I don't know that I can explain. I've sort of joined Tom's running group, the Tokyo Ladies Hash House Harriers. They are a self-described "drinking club with a running problem", part of the worldwide network of Hash House Harriers (search- you'll probably find one in your town too!) Anyway- the basic idea is that every Wednesday night we meet at a different train station from which someone (on a rotating basis) sets a trail in chalk. No one but the person who sets the trail knows where its going to go- so the fun is running around through downtown Tokyo looking for chalked arrows. Sometimes these arrows lead to a deadend so then we need to look for the right ones, etc. Its really quite fun. AND- the hash runs (which have nothing to do with marijuana), are always followed by dinner and lots of beer (which kind of defeats the whole purpose of running but is really great after running around in 90 degree Tokyo heat!). Once you have run with the group (or any hash group) for a while, you get a "hash name" which all seem to be on the crude side... but whatever. You can bet I won't be sharing mine here when I get it. ;)

4) Tom- still having a blast living within 30 minutes of "want to watch a movie?".

5) Everything else- running on the river near here, going to church in English, grocery shopping at the 100 yen store, (still) figuring out the train/subway. Last weekend we explored the fall Matisse art exhibit at the National Museum of Western Art.

And now that I've been enjoying it for over a month... I'm getting out! Well, not for long, but if the weather stays dry Tom and I are going to celebrate the official start of fall (a national holiday on Monday here in Japan) by climbing Mt. Kumatori. Its name means "Cloud catcher" or something like that, so I'm doubtful there will be much of a view, but I'm looking forward to streching my legs and seeing some green.

Enjoy the weekend!!