These last few days, I have taken more pictures than in my entire life. My camera is tired, my feet are dead, and my hands are cold. Yet it's really fun to walk all around Hirakata now that I don't have any schoolwork to worry about. All I have left are some last souvenirs and then packing. I can't wait for this weekend to be over.
Yesterday was the koto club's last party of the semester. Since the student from Turkey is vegetarian, we went to a different restaurant than the all-you-can-eat meat grill. It turned out to be one of the worst restaurants I've ever been in. There were only two staff, and they brought out three big plates of food for eleven of us, one course at a time. But the timing between courses went from 30-45 minutes. It wasn't even particularly special, certainly not worth waiting for. That's why I am so happy that karaoke bars have food. We sang and ate for four hours (or I did, at any rate), form 11:30 pm to 3:30 am. One of the senpai's boyfriend came, and he knew the anime songs that I'm fond of so we sang lots of duets (Code Geass ftw :) But, since the trains stop running at midnight, I had to walk three stations down to get back home. I finally flopped down on my bed at exactly 5:00, and passed out, only to get up at 11:00 and run around some more. What I wouldn't give for a body that can handle coffee.

Observations:
I have only seen two cases of dyed hair in my time here. Both were old ladies, one with vivid purple and the other with dark pink, neither with much hair to begin with, and both looking like they were homeless wrecks. I initially thought that students were all dying their hair, but dark orange is actually a very common hair color in the Kansai region.
In order to recycle your bike, you first have to go and cancel your registration with the shop you bought it from. That's like having to go inform your car dealer from 10 years ago for permission to scrap your car because it died on you. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
Mailing stuff overseas is really, really expensive.
Apparently, there is no such thing here as a no smoking section. People will light up right next to me regardless of where we are without a second thought. I feel like a certain Python chef...