What a funny little place Yamagata is. We had three and a half of those cold, beautiful days this week when the sky stretches further than usual. I saw mountains I never knew existed, pinched between the great big blue and the horizon. Isolated peaks of Gassan and Hayama to the north, beside the Asahi-Machi range, and the larger, closer range that crowds around Zao to the south of Nanachu. There's usually a large dark cloud snagged on Zao, but not this week.
I'd nothing to do (school tests) so I climbed to the fourth floor when all the kids had gone and took pictures of the mountains on my kei-tai, leaning out of the window. I caught a shadow in the corner of my eye and turned to see Abe-sensei, watching me.
He approached and told me about the peaks and the ranges and tried to explain the topography of the ken and 'bowl' was the best word I came up with. We never usually talk. 'Basin', I heard K-T saying to Abe-sensei when I followed him back to the teacher's room a little later.
It was the second time that day I was aware of being watched. Earlier in the day I'd posted off a Japanese test and took my time, scuffing my shoes (they were loose) against the concrete on the way back. I bumped into the lovely Tomoko, who'd come to pick up the car-keys and the car from Mum and from school. A chance encounter in the sunshine. It ended awkwardly and I turned back to the school building to see a pair of legs and white trainers snatched back inside an open window, quickly following Mizuki's prying eyes.
Last night was a blind date a double date, the first date I've ever been on, with Ian and the girl he met in Rough Roll and one of her friends, and me. We went to Pikuri Donkey and then they drove us up Nishi Zao to enjoy the night view: make out point!! What a joke. Max and I will chuckle when we pass through the great big orange torii gate on the way down from Zao and the Shi unfurls before us in all its glory, and I couldn't help chuckling last night at the situation, at the view, at the Shi. I've grown bored of thinking about the wider picture.
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