This is the best way I could think of to procrastinate.
So we get another entry! Before a month has gone by! How exciting.
The trend of having busy weekends has continued so far this month. The first weekend of February there was a big dinner at a friend's house up in Numata and a birthday celebration for another friend, for which her husband baked up a storm! The trip up to Numata was nice, though too short, since the last train was at 9:27, booo. The food was super delicious though (homg, real cheese! Brownies! Brownie-cheese cake!), and it was a whole different set of people than who I normally see, which was fun. ^^ The birthday party was also great fun. Highlights included cookie-sheets, brownies, tacos (food overall, really), the books at their house (a whole library!), several rousing rounds of Egyptian Rat-screw, good conversation and making the 7 k bike trip there and back in fairly reasonable time. Now that I know where their house is, I am definitely going back. :DDD (They lent me a book called The Name of the Wind, which was awesome except for the part where the second part got delayed to the point that it's just coming out next month. I'd still recommend it, though!)
This past weekend was actually a three-day weekend due to the Japanese National Foundation Day. I didn't have big plans, though, because I had no idea we had a three-day weekend coming up until about two weeks before. ^^; So Friday I lazed around the house. Saturday was another friend's birthday party, though, so a bunch of us headed over to Round 1 for the three-hour package. This was my first time there, and it was awesome! Basically the only thing not included in the package is bowling, but the arcade is free play, karaoke is available, there's roller skating, batting cages, archery, golf, basketball, darts, soccer... it was the best! I really wish we had one of these at home, for the arcade if nothing else. (Though archery was sweet too. Even though my arm is a little sore from that and the batting cages. :D) After Round 1 we headed over to an all-you-can-eat yakiniku place, which was awesome. For the second time in two weeks, I ate until I couldn't eat anymore. XD The weekend was finished off with my first haircut in Japan, for which I was unaccountably nervous. Luckily, friend L (who also participated in the two birthday parties of the past week or so) agreed to go with me and get her bangs trimmed up. Problem solved! My hair is not more stylish, but it is shorter and less raggedy. ^^
The big news of the last little while is the confirmation that my parents are coming to visit in late March/early April! I am wicked excited- we've been working out hotels and things. We're mostly all set, except for the Tokyo ones (my dad's gonna try to sort them on points) and an onsen in Kusatsu, for which I am mostly just overwhelmed by the choices and the price. ^^;
Waiting on word from grad schools as well- the Canadian ones should be letting me know in March.
The trend of having busy weekends has continued so far this month. The first weekend of February there was a big dinner at a friend's house up in Numata and a birthday celebration for another friend, for which her husband baked up a storm! The trip up to Numata was nice, though too short, since the last train was at 9:27, booo. The food was super delicious though (homg, real cheese! Brownies! Brownie-cheese cake!), and it was a whole different set of people than who I normally see, which was fun. ^^ The birthday party was also great fun. Highlights included cookie-sheets, brownies, tacos (food overall, really), the books at their house (a whole library!), several rousing rounds of Egyptian Rat-screw, good conversation and making the 7 k bike trip there and back in fairly reasonable time. Now that I know where their house is, I am definitely going back. :DDD (They lent me a book called The Name of the Wind, which was awesome except for the part where the second part got delayed to the point that it's just coming out next month. I'd still recommend it, though!)
This past weekend was actually a three-day weekend due to the Japanese National Foundation Day. I didn't have big plans, though, because I had no idea we had a three-day weekend coming up until about two weeks before. ^^; So Friday I lazed around the house. Saturday was another friend's birthday party, though, so a bunch of us headed over to Round 1 for the three-hour package. This was my first time there, and it was awesome! Basically the only thing not included in the package is bowling, but the arcade is free play, karaoke is available, there's roller skating, batting cages, archery, golf, basketball, darts, soccer... it was the best! I really wish we had one of these at home, for the arcade if nothing else. (Though archery was sweet too. Even though my arm is a little sore from that and the batting cages. :D) After Round 1 we headed over to an all-you-can-eat yakiniku place, which was awesome. For the second time in two weeks, I ate until I couldn't eat anymore. XD The weekend was finished off with my first haircut in Japan, for which I was unaccountably nervous. Luckily, friend L (who also participated in the two birthday parties of the past week or so) agreed to go with me and get her bangs trimmed up. Problem solved! My hair is not more stylish, but it is shorter and less raggedy. ^^
The big news of the last little while is the confirmation that my parents are coming to visit in late March/early April! I am wicked excited- we've been working out hotels and things. We're mostly all set, except for the Tokyo ones (my dad's gonna try to sort them on points) and an onsen in Kusatsu, for which I am mostly just overwhelmed by the choices and the price. ^^;
Waiting on word from grad schools as well- the Canadian ones should be letting me know in March.