long time no talk...
This has been a while...
Part of the reason for that is that there hasn't been too much to type up here really. Much of it has been life as usual... just in Japan. things have been going well, except for the consistent ability of the USD to experience more ups and downs that most teenage high school girls. However, apart from the frustrating state of the US economy I have been enjoying myself here. Really, not much of note has happened, save two events I can think of.
First off, a couple weeks ago was a get together that was organized by Bryce and, in part, our Japanese 3 Conversation sensei. The interesting thing about his participation is the fat that our get together was so we could introduce Beirut (Beer Pong to many) to the other students here. We rented out one of the cafeterias and pushed together some tables. While we didn't have real ping pong balls (the store that we were relying on to have them apparently stopped carrying the brand they had been selling and hadn't gotten a different one in yet) we had some that were about half size and were sold in bundles of three... with little plastic guns that would shoot them. Well, apart from that and only one table having regular sized plastic cups, it was business as usual. It was quite a lot of fun in the end and people really enjoyed the game. After the festivities ended the majority of us wandered down to an Izakaya near campus that we frequent (at least some of us do on Mondays with our professor) for some more drinks and snacks. From there, proceeded to consume and had the first bit of food I had eaten all day (because due to a bad combination of timing and whatnot I had missed breakfast, lunch, and was playing Beirut during dinner time).
The second event of note is Thanksgiving. Just last Thursday was our celebration and it was an open invite to all who wanted to come. All that was asked was that if you come you bring something to share, be it food or drink. The turn out was actually quite good and the food provided worked out well. We had a very international (in terms of guests, location, and food) Thanksgiving this year. The day before I had picked up materials to make some Pico de Gallo for my contribution, and on the way back Bryce and I checked in at a second hand store to see the price of a rice cooker... ended up getting one and a mini fridge (SUPER cheap and still working. Also got a 6 month coverage on it!) so now we have those available to us! (the best part of this is that I am now able to make my own food for lunch, or any time on those days it isn't provided to us!) So we all met up and I explained to everyone the origin of T-Day and what it has come to be in our modern day and the feasting began. Apart from my Pico, there was ham, mashed potatoes, Paella (made with Japanese ingredients... Japanese Spanish rice... pretty good though), pasta, meatballs, a bean dish, eventually some sushi came, some fruit, and for dessert Rocco had made chocolate pudding and Yu brought two pumpkin pies from the Costco he is a member at. From then on out it was just a good night of socializing, eating, drinking, eating, eating, and socializing. It was a great turnout and a lot of fun, as well as a good chance to share one of the better US holidays with another part of the world.
Also, a few weeks ago I was able to meet up with Yuka and Mariko, two students we had met when we were in China in '03. They are both doing very well and it was great to be able to meet up with them again. Yuka will be in Tokyo until March or so next year, so I should be able to meet up with her again, and Mariko will be in and out of town.
Really though, apart from that there is very little to report. Life has consisted of school, hanging out with friends (usually on campus), and not too much else. I have still been enjoying it, very much so, but I haven't had much opportunity for any big excursions. Hopefully within the next few weeks I will be able to head off to some fun destinations, but we shall see. for now, love to all of you and I hope that things are going well in your respective places. Until next time (and hopefully a bit sooner than this).
Brenton
Part of the reason for that is that there hasn't been too much to type up here really. Much of it has been life as usual... just in Japan. things have been going well, except for the consistent ability of the USD to experience more ups and downs that most teenage high school girls. However, apart from the frustrating state of the US economy I have been enjoying myself here. Really, not much of note has happened, save two events I can think of.
First off, a couple weeks ago was a get together that was organized by Bryce and, in part, our Japanese 3 Conversation sensei. The interesting thing about his participation is the fat that our get together was so we could introduce Beirut (Beer Pong to many) to the other students here. We rented out one of the cafeterias and pushed together some tables. While we didn't have real ping pong balls (the store that we were relying on to have them apparently stopped carrying the brand they had been selling and hadn't gotten a different one in yet) we had some that were about half size and were sold in bundles of three... with little plastic guns that would shoot them. Well, apart from that and only one table having regular sized plastic cups, it was business as usual. It was quite a lot of fun in the end and people really enjoyed the game. After the festivities ended the majority of us wandered down to an Izakaya near campus that we frequent (at least some of us do on Mondays with our professor) for some more drinks and snacks. From there, proceeded to consume and had the first bit of food I had eaten all day (because due to a bad combination of timing and whatnot I had missed breakfast, lunch, and was playing Beirut during dinner time).
The second event of note is Thanksgiving. Just last Thursday was our celebration and it was an open invite to all who wanted to come. All that was asked was that if you come you bring something to share, be it food or drink. The turn out was actually quite good and the food provided worked out well. We had a very international (in terms of guests, location, and food) Thanksgiving this year. The day before I had picked up materials to make some Pico de Gallo for my contribution, and on the way back Bryce and I checked in at a second hand store to see the price of a rice cooker... ended up getting one and a mini fridge (SUPER cheap and still working. Also got a 6 month coverage on it!) so now we have those available to us! (the best part of this is that I am now able to make my own food for lunch, or any time on those days it isn't provided to us!) So we all met up and I explained to everyone the origin of T-Day and what it has come to be in our modern day and the feasting began. Apart from my Pico, there was ham, mashed potatoes, Paella (made with Japanese ingredients... Japanese Spanish rice... pretty good though), pasta, meatballs, a bean dish, eventually some sushi came, some fruit, and for dessert Rocco had made chocolate pudding and Yu brought two pumpkin pies from the Costco he is a member at. From then on out it was just a good night of socializing, eating, drinking, eating, eating, and socializing. It was a great turnout and a lot of fun, as well as a good chance to share one of the better US holidays with another part of the world.
Also, a few weeks ago I was able to meet up with Yuka and Mariko, two students we had met when we were in China in '03. They are both doing very well and it was great to be able to meet up with them again. Yuka will be in Tokyo until March or so next year, so I should be able to meet up with her again, and Mariko will be in and out of town.
Really though, apart from that there is very little to report. Life has consisted of school, hanging out with friends (usually on campus), and not too much else. I have still been enjoying it, very much so, but I haven't had much opportunity for any big excursions. Hopefully within the next few weeks I will be able to head off to some fun destinations, but we shall see. for now, love to all of you and I hope that things are going well in your respective places. Until next time (and hopefully a bit sooner than this).
Brenton