national holiday

I love national holidays. There have been three Mondays off since I've arrived in Japan. It's ridiculous! I've heard it's a way that the government ensures that people take time off. But from shopping today, it's only time off for students and perhaps corporate types. Most of the shops were open. I also hear that there are more national holidays in the fall, because it's good weather and a good time for tourism.

Went downtown and got a new phone today. Its functional highlight? It has a built-in dictionary. And, its camera can read and translate English and Japanese. Woohoo!

Also, I was walking down the street when an old man (seriously, grandpa-aged) zoomed by me on a bicycle and called me pretty. More specifically, he called me a 美人、which translates to "beautiful person." Hah! I can't decide whether to be flattered by the niceness of ojisans, or whether to be slightly weirded out.