Hard to believe I'm saying sayonara to the JET crew yet again, but not leaving. I pegged myself as one of the most likely people to not make it through the year, and my theme song for the fall was Joni Mitchell's "Urge for Going." However, that choice itself is prophetic: "I've got the urge for going, but I never seem to go." Roll on, year 3!! Birdie Glass and I organized the Sayonara Party on Naoshima Island, which went off well despite minor disasters the whole way along. They wouldn't rent this place out to JETs after it was trashed a few years back, so it required a bit of maneuvering and sweet-talking to get the venue in the first place. We nearly pulled out 2 or 3 times while making concurrent back-up plans, but somehow everything fell into place at the last minute. Birdie/Barbie, our stealth nihonjin, is already rocking out as president.

That lovely ojiisan is a caretaker at Tsutsuji-sou, where we stayed. Does he look friendly and approachable? Don't be fooled. He patrolled the grounds in giant black Wellington boots all night to make sure our music wasn't too loud and that we were staying out of trouble, and shot a few death glares in our general direction. Maybe Dear Welly is smiling in the picture because he's remembering the show he got from not-so-shy Besty. Either that, or the allegedly famous guy whose children we were allegedly keeping awake just slipped him a large bill.