Chaning Seasons

10.1.07
As September becomes the month of October, Japan’s weather is changing before my eyes. The heat of the Japanese summer is quickly being replaced with the cooler weather of fall. In a sense, the weather hear reminds me of home. One day you’re wearing tank-tops, and the next, it’s time to get out your warm hat and sweatshirt. For example, this past Friday I felt rather hot by the time I peddled my way to work; I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. However, yesterday the rain brought along the wind and a dampness that seeped into my bones, chilling me from the inside out. Good thing for warm blankets sent from home, new hats, and water resistant jackets. I’m sure it was a lot warmer then it felt, but then again, the strong wind can easily befuddle our perception of our surroundings. I’ll have to have a chat with my hypothalamus (if that’s possible). I think my thick Buffalo, NY blood has thinned out since I got here. It’s supposed to be 68 degrees today with wind. We’ll see about that.

My Japanese lessons with Lauren are going well. I have learned all of my Hiragana characters and now have to learn the different rules concerning their combinations. After that it’s Katakana and then I’ll focus on conversation skills because right now that’s most important to me. I emailed a lady by the name of Ms. Ogina about free Japanese lessons; Lauren saw an advertisement offering lessons to foreigners in the post office. She quickly returned my email and was excited to meet me. Classes (taught by Japanese volunteers) will be from 11-12:30 on Monday mornings and I will start on October 15^th! The class is being held at the “International Friends Center”.

Lauren and I spent some time yesterday making party invitations for our “Hip Halloween Hoopla” on October 27^th at 6:30pm. Lauren’s birthday is the 27^th and we also wanted to invite friends and colleges to our apartment for some Halloweenie good times.

You know you’re turning Japanese when you eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Lauren and I decided to go exploring at 9:30pm on Friday night. We normally go through the park but there are huge spider webs. Lauren didn’t want to go that way and I was up for an adventure so we finished work at 9pm, got on our bikes around 9:30pm and were off. We took some new turns and ended up near a busy street sporting a McDonalds and, wait for it, a kaiten sushi place! By the time we would get home it would be close to 10pm and we would still have to make dinner. With that in mind, our stomachs told us that we had to go inside. It was delicious and I was a little daring; I tried natto. I didn’t really enjoy it, but at least I gave it a chance. On the way home we got a little lost, went in circles, and finally made it home by 11:15pm. I can’t complain, I was ready for bed, full, and to be honest, I had fun!

A few days ago, Lauren told me a story about something that happened in one of her classes. She was going over family in her classes. Each student drew their family members and pets and then was expected to explain (in English) who each member was. She showed me some of the pictures by her students, and I must say that the drawings were very good. Japanese children are very good artists. One student in particular drew her pets which included to green balls in a fish tank. Lauren really didn’t understand so asked Hiroko to come over and explain what exactly these pets were. Hiroko told her that they were “creatures” found in the Japanese sea. They are called marimo(s). When Lauren told me, we both were stumped so I took the initiative and looked up this “creature” of sorts on one of my favorite websites, Wikipedia. The green, fuzzy ball-like-pets are actually colonies of fibrous algae that are only found in a few countries; Japan is one of three. Lauren and I want to get one. Maybe we could name it Marvin (the marimo) or something.

Special Shout Outs: Thank you Mom Hensen (Mudder) for the marvelous package! It was full of so many goodies that will definitely be savored by Lauren and I. Also, thank you for informing me that my plant is an Anthurium from Hawaii. I will make sure it gets lots of warm sunshine. About the new Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, it seems like most people are in favor of him because he is more experienced and “stable” (to quote Peggy). Peggy also may have briefly mentioned her and Hiroko’s love for the old Prime Minister (Shinzo Abe say Prime Minister "ah-bay") may or may not have been due to the fact that he was “good looking”.

Hiroki, thank you very much for informing me that the mathematical formulas I saw on TV were addressing the "Internal Structure [and] Evolution of a Star". That is so great! Yes, hopefully I will learn the kanji and be able to read what it says the next time.

Yuta, I made omurice (a fried rice omelet where the rice is hidden under a thin layer of scrambled egg) like you taught me while we were still at Binghamton! Lauren wouldn’t let me make her one because she didn’t trust me. When she tried my omu rice she smiled with satisfaction. I think she trusts me now. Seeing is believing, I suppose.

Dr. Ed and Margene, I was actually surprised but it seems as though many of the sailing terms are similar here, despite them sounding Japanese-a-fied. When Peggy was going over the sailing review sheet with me several words stood out including: "beam reach", "running", "tack", "jibe", "skipper", "crew". There were some others but I can't remember them off the top of my head. It seems like math isn't the only international language; sailing is too! Good thing I like both.

Random Notes: I need help! Lauren and I have a week of Halloween parties at school and we don’t know what to dress up as. Any suggestions? We wanted to try to have the same theme as far as costumes goes. Lauren thought of M&M’s, but in my opinion, that’s not very exciting. No offense Lauren :)

I was looking in the New York page of the World Atlas at school the other day and Binghamton was spelled “Binghamption”. It made me laugh.