New Developments

The past few weekends I have been a little busier than normal. My school had a welcome barbecue for me last Sunday, so I had a great opportunity to talk to my students outside of class and get to know them a lot better. It was also fun to see the other teachers there dressed casually and not working. This coming weekend I will be heading back down to the Tokyo area for a mandatory follow up training. The last one we had was successful, though the travel and everything back and forth was pretty tiring. It should be a little easier this time, but hopefully it doesn't wear me out for the week.
In my free time, I have been getting around town and trying the food at different places. Many of my students recommended a few Indian restaurants, so I made sure I tried those. They were all pretty good, and I think it'd be funny if Ueda became famous for Indian food somehow. I am yet to find another hamburger place in town, so with only Mos Burger and McDonald's, I may be forced to start making my own at home. I've started experimenting with grilled cheese sandwiches, inspired by my experience at The Grilled Cheese Invitational in April. Raisin bread and grilled onions are terrific with grilled cheese, and even some marmalade spread too. I'll let you know if I make any noteworthy discoveries.
The best news I have is that next month I will be returning to Kyoto! We have a few days off, so I decided I must make a return to Kyoto. I will be taking the overnight bus both ways, and first on my list of things to do there is to stop at Smile Burger. That will without a doubt be the ultimate burger update, though I don't know if I will be able to write anything I don't already know. I still have a few friends in the area and there are many things I want to do, so it will all be a lot of fun. I'm staying in a hostel with a friend who's teaching in Gifu, and we'll be there for three nights. Seeing as I'm taking the overnight bus, I will have four very full days there, arriving at 6 a.m. the first day and departing at 10 p.m. the last day. That assures me of at least three trips to Smile Burger.