I realized there are only 4 people with whom I'd backpack through Europe and that scares me
Nic, Yael and I headed into Harvard Square to watch Harry and the Potters, since Voldemort can't stop the rock.
Harry (year 4) and Ernie grove on stage. Harry (year 4) rolled around on the floor and wrapped the mic chord around his head to make glasses.
Afterward, we wandered around the Oktoberfest street fair. Nic decided she wanted a henna tattoo on her arm.
One of the best parts of street fairs is the free food. Yael and I are eating our ice cream samples in front of a giant ice cream tub with a huge cow towering over us.
Last night, I dreamed a series of vignettes on the theme of wine in France. In each situation, I was in a situation where I was about to become socially accepted into a group of French people, but I refused the wine they offered and they became cold. For example, I went home with a friend from school for dinner, and when her family offered me wine, I asked for water instead and they suddenly talked less.
This dream illustrates one of the reasons I'm spending the year in France instead of splitting it between two countries. If I want to integrate myself as fully as possible into a culture, I need to stay in the same place for a year; there's no chance that I would even be anything other than gaijin with only a semester in Japan. At the same time, though, I fear that I will need to alter myself in ways I don't want to so I can make friends.