Pictures are coming, I swear!

I know it's been a long time, but here's a post I wrote shortly after my birthday party. The internets are all used up over here, so posting is chotto muzukashii (a little difficult.)

"Sorry I haven't written in a while,the internets has been on the fritz. Here are the long awaited pictures of my trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima. So classes have been going well so far. I met one of my conversation partners today, his name is Kensuke, he is a biomedical student, the first kanji in his name comes from the first kanji in kenbikyou- microscope, I think we have a lot in common, but unfortunately, I can barely understand a word he says. He did speak a sentence in English, so that was nice, but... I don't know about having a conversation with him. Luckily, there will be another person, so hopefully that will help alleviate some awkwardness. Well, that was my first present of the day.
Classes went well today. Actually, all in all, today was an awesome awesome day. After I met with my conversation partner, Laura and I went to this cute little french dessertery to pick up some cakes that Laura had ordered for my birthday. We went to a party put on by the English Speaking Society, and that was kind of fun. They had cool Japanese snacks. I think the best was the konnyaku jelly. I LOVE konnyaku jelly. It's actually harder than I remember gelatin jell-o being, but it's not an animal product. It's made entirely of mashed up devil's tongue! IT IS SO AWESOME! This was a candy form, but I bought some at the 100 yen store that is for cooking. Actually, I had konnyaku jelly at the toufu place I went earlier. When I cook with it, I'll make sure to take pictures. Well, after the ESS party and dinner, Laura and I started setting up for my birthday party. It was at 9:00PM, so it was dark, and the full moon was smiling down on us, and we lit a whole bunch of candles and put them on these tables outside. We actually had three cakes- one was coffee and strawberry (Laura thought it was chocolate, but it was delicious nonetheless,) one was banana with real bits of banana, and one was Valor-origin white cake covered in chocolate. Think a high class zebra cake. BTW, in case you've been wondering, I have figured out what's Japanese for gelatin (it's zerachin,) and that anything with the fish kanji or pig kanji or cow kanji contains meat. Also, I've gotten pretty fast at reading ingredients. I don't actually know how to say them in Japanese, but I understand what's in the food I buy for the most part. Anyway, most of the student abroad students came, and I even got presents from some of the non-American exchange students. There were delicious snacks and great music; we played fun games; but mostly I think everyone had fun just hanging out. It was a bring your own alcohol party, but luckily, no one brought any.


SO, random moment of Zen. There's this game called Kudos-you're a character in a real life simulation game, and you try to make friends who give you kudos points for doing fun stuff with them. It's kind of like Sims, except your character doesn't move around and doesn't have a house. Well, every day you wake up and go to work and a window tells you the weather, your mood, and how your day at work went. Every day your mood changes, and it's almost completely random whether you'll wake up in a good mood, have a good day at work, and have fun with your friends. The game progresses so quickly that you realize that your mood doesn't really matter, it'll be different tomorrow. This morning I woke up feeling kind of bummed, and I realized in the shower, really felt it, that it doesn't really matter- something will come along and cheer me up eventually, and if not, tomorrow I'll feel completely different. "

So, anyway, classes are hard, but getting easier. I met with one of my conversation partners today-Kensuke. He's cool; we talked about the declining population of Japan and archery club. That may sound impressive, but there were a lot of pictures and a lot of mutual misunderstanding. It was pretty cool though. Oh, and also I had Sadou to today-tea ceremony. A lot of people found it relaxing; and it's supposed to be; it is a form of meditation. But I just found it nerve-wracking. So much to remember! It's all rules you have to follow and it you don't do it wrong you're dishonoring your host and then of course you have to run out of the room crying and you're never allowed to return which means you fail the class and thusly you get deported back to America. Gosh dang silk rag! I could not fold it right to save my life (which is how it felt.) You have to hold it with one hand, grab it a certain way with the other, fold it over your hand, and now magically, it's a circle. Iie, dekimasen. (No, I can't do it.) Anyway, shinakattaganakatta. (It couldn't be helped.) Well, I finished my homework, and now I'm going to shower and go to bed. Until next time,

-Jonathan
ps btw. gikochinai-awkward.