I'm happy to say that I'm finally a proud owner of mustard colored tights. As someone with so-called thunder thighs, I've always been told to stay away from bright colors because they draw more attention to unwanted areas. "You must wear dark bottoms and light tops," they said. For many years, I'd only wear black tights because black is more "slimming". Well, that kind of mentality was bothering me for a while. I'm already a very shy person who ironically likes things that tend to attract people's attention. But finally I said screw it. I'm going for it. And I'm happy I did. It was such a wonderfully contrasting color to all the black I was wearing.

 Thanksgiving is not a traditional holiday for the Japanese, but they are aware that we Americans celebrate it. Many of us during our stay experienced bouts of homesickness as the holiday season drew near. We began to miss our family and friends back home and the special foods that are cooked and served during that time. My Japanese language sensei invited us over to her house to bring a piece of home to us. I thought that was such a nice gesture. As you can see, there was even an oven roasted turkey!