Natsuyasumi (summer holiday)

Today has been pretty mixed. Dan and Rosie left Japan today after 3 years of teaching. They are heading back to NZ to settle down and get married, etc. We drove them to Yamaguchi city (about 45 minutes from Hagi) and took them to the bullet train station. Saying goodbye was difficult, and Dan, Rosie and I were all in pretty bad shape. Here are a few of my favourite photos from the year:

As we were leaving the train station, we realised all the clouds and humidity had cleared up and the rainy season is finally over!! After about a month of rain, storms, humidity and dampness, the sun has decided to come out at last! We decided to celebrate this with an afternoon and the beach, so Jo, Eugene (Jo's boyfriend) and I hit the beach.

I was sitting next to Jo, and there was about a foot between us. I was just about to take a bite of a pastry I had in my hand, when a hawk swooped down between me and Jo and tried to take my food! But it missed and grabbed my face instead. I'm not kidding! Luckily I was wearing sunnies and its claw caught those and only scratched down my eye instead of gouging it out. It bled so I washed it in the sea, and hopefully it won't get infected. Do hawks have lots of bacteria on their claws?

I tried to take a picture of it, but it isn't very clear. You can see the cut under my eye, and can just barely make out the scratch that runs down my forehead and through the corner of my eye. It happened about 7 hours ago and it is still hurting. Should I be worried???