I'm not dead

Wow, sorry. Never meant to neglect you like this. Quick update: I'm doing quite well and my studies are moving along. I can sort of express myself-ish on a good day when I'm not nervous. That's pretty good progress consideration I couldn't have any kind of conversation when I got here.

Did you know that brown eggs are called red eggs in Japan? At least they are in the grocery store where I shop. Which is called "Valor," and has the slogan, "Quality Living, Good Price" emblazoned across the front of the building.

Right, so, Party of The Future. This was an event held at the house of a communications professor who has some pretty cool ideas about communication. The house was designed by this fellow and has a ground floor and 2 stories above with catwalks going over a courtyard. The idea behind this design is to facilitate interpersonal communication beyond a horizontal plane. It was interesting to see people try this out. We're so very used to communicating with each other on a physically level surface at a standard distance apart. Have you ever really thought about the way in which you talk to other people? I certainly didn't until I got here. Beyond the smaller personal space bubble, it was hard to not yell louder than I needed to speak to anyone above and below me. Also, I found myself talking louder when I was the higher up person.

The party was also a potluck. The food was good, and pretty diverse since the party was attended by many different people: families and individuals and people from a few different countries. Being from California, where we have access to awesome Mexican food pretty much all the time, I got a chuckle out of the Japanese version of chips and salsa. It was more like chips with tomato stew that had been carried through a room that may or may not have contained spices at some point in time. Also, it was a surreal experience to build a sandwich, buffet picnic style, only with chopsticks instead of my hands. It's surprisingly easy once you get over the mental block of lifting a slice of white bread on to your plate with sticks.

This trip was also Alisha and I's first real experience with a Japanese group effort. What would have been a four hour drive turned into a 5 when we made a convenience store stop five times. Granted, Alisha and I don't take any prisoners on road trips. And the fives stops themselves wouldn't have been that big of an issue. Everyone has to eat and use the bathroom at some point, fairly often in a car of 6 people. But do we really need to spend 15 minutes browsing the manga (comics) section of the store after everyone finishes purchasing their stuff. I'm making sound much worse than it was: the scenery was beautiful and our friends were very nice. Let's just say we weren't expecting it.

Next time I'll write about the trip to Nagano in-depth, sans head injury since you got that part already. Prof. Curtis, if you see this, I've been noticing just how many doors in Japan have handles on the push-only side. The things I wouldn't notice without your instruction.

I hope everyone is happy and healthy. Take care.