Category: General

A coworker was nice enough to invite us to a Japanese-style BBQ with her, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s friend. We had to be ready by 11am. I was a COMPLETE idiot and actually ate a healthy breakfast of choco flakes and banana slices, earlier that morning – I had no idea what was ahead… Continue reading Japanese Bar-B-Q

Class is every Tuesday and Friday, from 6:30 to 8:30 in Gifu city. I don’t see any way around this: we were all unprepared. This class is HARD and is gonna demand some major attention! Which means.. less time for whatever else it is I do. Damn. But, if I can endure this horrible new… Continue reading First day of Japanese class in Gifu city

As a perfect prelude to our long weekend, Alex, John, Ben, and I made banana milkshakes and played cards. It also happened to be the perfect way to use up the bananas I had bought but would not be able to finish! ^_^ We just had to buy the milk and ice cream, which we… Continue reading Banana milkshakes and cards

Now that we (Shirley, Ben, and myself) had takoyaki makers, we wanted to use them! Takoyaki are fried octopus cakes that Osaka is very well known for. Since we had so much fun doing the takoyaki party thing at Briar’s, we planned to do the same thing in the good ‘ol countryside! It ended up… Continue reading Takoyaki party at Shirley’s

I really, really, REALLY wish I understood Japanese! It would have made this evening so much more enjoyable. I went to a Japanese restaurant with my department (6 coworkers and myself) and we drank and ate all night. Oh wait, THEY talked, I just stared blankly and kept eating. Okay, this is not entirely true:… Continue reading Staff party at Megumi

A weekend involving ninjas, drinking, and waterslides absolutely *must* be good…. I’m sitting in bed, hoping I can do a quick recap of the weekend, without falling asleep. Saturday I take turns with Ben, doubling to the Hozumi station, and pay 100yen to park my bike for a night. From there, we take the train… Continue reading Ninjas, Waterslides, and Meat

Today, the wonderful Shirley brought my new camera to work! YES! Finally! It got delivered to her apartment, and I gave her the cash to pay for it. I get to play with it once I get home… and I will play with it, don’t doubt that for a second. A bunch of us may… Continue reading New Camera

I told myself that instead of wasting precious personal time writing journal entries, I’d do it at work when I needed to keep myself awake. Now, is one of those times. I’ve tried desperately to stay awake and do something, but I’m SO tired, and my head just keeps leaning forward for un-natural lengths of… Continue reading Kyoto, Awesomely-Bad Eiga Mura, Kobe

It’s 12:30pm, I just got back from lunch. Soon, the bell will sound, the lights will turn back on, and the “Sanyo song” will play…. *sigh* Last weekend was really cool. Ben and I took our newly purchased inflatable dingy down the Nagara gawa from Gifu city… well… half way, anyways. The plan was to… Continue reading Buddy down the River… and Beer

Dormitory Food tastes SO GOOD after starving and freezing on top of Mt.Fuji… Mt. Fuji: the largest mountain in Japan, and sleeping volcano (last erruption in 1707-1708). Climbing Fuji-san is something you *have* to do if you come to Japan and like hiking. There is a saying: “You are a fool if you do not… Continue reading Mt Fuji