Sunday June 22,
I can never get around to posting the blog until the last moment. There are just so many things to do here; it's truly amazing.

I joined a gym this week along with two other members of our academy. It actually cost quite a bit, and we were determined to make the full use of our membership. We signed the morning session also to save money. So this week, we all woke up at 6:30AM for three days and dragged ourselves through the workout and later, class. My sleep schedule has been really messed up. It is kind of divided into 2 halves. One is the 5 hour block at night, and the other is the approximately 2-3 hour in the afternoon after I get back from class. I really want to change this so that I get a full 8 hours at night and get through the day with more energy.

The weekend was once again a blast. We had the tea ceremony, a traditional look into how a Japanese "otera", or temple carries out one of its most revered and oldest event.


Here is one of the lovely ladies of the "otera" methodically making tea. The way she was doing this could have taken us several more days if she wanted to drag it on, but fortunately she was "responsible" enough to only do this twice in front of us. I don't think that many people liked the tea anyways; it was way too strong. However, the experience of watching her more than made up for the painful process of waiting. I figured out that she had to get up, kneel, sit, and walk in a special manner. She never stepped on the blue border where the different tatami pieces on the floor join up. Also, she only cuts diagonally through corners. It was in all very interesting.

On both Friday and Saturday night, we went out to experience the Tokyo night life. Friday, we once again went to Roppongi, a haven for foreigners in Japan trolling on the street for local talent. I basically have a great time in Roppongi every night that I go. The foreigners seem to have a secret code- when we pass each other by, everyone in the group yell out "hey!!" and drag it on for about 10 seconds even if no one of either group know anyone from the other. It was funny every time. The only bad part of the night was that when we were leaving our last bar, it was pouring and 3 o'clock in the morning. We first decided to wait around until the rain died down, but our friend from an exchange interview session, Lee-San, told us that the weather forecast predicted that the rain will last all night. So we made the wise decision to take the taxi home. What it's even more wise is that when we got off the cab, Lee-san found a "10000" yen bill, equivalent to $100, on the street. It compensated fully for the taxi fare and left us some more.

(This is a picture of us sitting on the street waiting for the rain to pass).


On Saturday night, we went to KARAOKE! It was yet one of the best experience in Tokyo. Everyone had so much fun. Especially for some of us who haven't done it before, doing it for the first time in Tokyo, where it was probably invented, was a fulfilling experience. We were lucky enough to find a relatively cheap place to sing, because we had the company of my Japanese buddy, Satoru. He led us through the streets of Shinjuku and hand-picked this venue for us. It was very sweet of him, and all of us remembered him well when he sang a Japanese song (I forgot the name.)

Next week is homestay! I can't wait to meet my host family, but before that, I need to buy a gift. Any ideas?