Fete at the Foreign Correspondence Club

Today was my first semi-free day. I spent the morning working and dying to get out in the sunshine. Finally it was great hunger that got me out of my chair and downstairs into the basement 5th floor (there are 5 basement floors UNDER my hotel, which itself is 25 stories tall.). I was too starving to be choosy so I ended up eating a real Japanese delicacy, Omurice. This is an omelet stuffed full of tomato sauce flavored rice and a few grey frozen peas thrown in. This one came with a side of saucy stewed beef and mushrooms. It was mildly icky, but it really filled my tummy.
Of on an adventure to find two things: children and dirt.
Sounds weird, but I miss Amelia so much and I'm so accustomed to being around children all the time that I just wanted to hang around near some kids. Also, my feet had walked on concrete for 6 straight days so I was longing for oxygenated air and soil. I managed to find a nice park (had to pay to get in-- argh).
I promised Nate some photos of myself today so here's the first:


Do I look tired to you too? I am/was!



First thing I did, after finding some cute kids to watch


was to take a snooze on the grass. It was divine. I felt refreshed enough to make a sketch.




Ron and Darlene, my friends and boss (Darlene is executive director of The Missing Peace Project and my boss. Ron is her husband) had kindly invited me to their hotel for a swim this afternoon. I was really ready for this. I swam in the crystal clear pool on the 47th floor of the Park Hyatt Hotel. It was divine and revived me completely. (sorry, no photos. I had to pretend I was Darlene to get in and didn't want to attract extra attention!).
Next was a dinner at the Foreign Correspondence Club. Darlene and Ron were nice enough to invite me knowing I was here alone. Turns out it was much fancier and full of important people than we expected!
This evening, I met politicians, journalists, an ambassador's family, a relative of the emperor, his wife, and many Tibetans who have worked for decades in Japan to further the cause of Tibetan independence. It was quite amazing and most of the time I didn't know what to say at all. Here's a photo to give a flavor of the evening:

If I'd known, I might have skipped the stripey tights!
I know enough to know that when I'm at a loss I can find someone I haven't met and exchange business cards! That's always good for 2-3 minutes of conversation which often leads to slightly more in-depth conversation about a person's life. I got a lot of cards tonight!
All in all, I was touched by the people at this event and by the hearts of those spending their lives working for this cause.
It was a lovely party. G'night!