STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 46

JULY 14

I’m surprised I didn’t feel particularly sore or tired when I woke up this morning. Personally, I felt a bit stronger, and a little less class-oriented. In conversation class I tried to use the time to talk about our weekend, since none of us wanted to study. It was a hard bait to bite, but eventually they caught on.

Usually our day would end there, but we had another appointment set for fourth period. A graduate student at the university was researching tea, and its role in different culture. As a result, we, the resident different cultures, were going to meet with him for an interview. It was kind of sad, because he had come all the way from Toyohashi for an interview that could have easily been done over e-mail. I regret saying that there was no inviting feeling amongst the exchange students who did show up for the interview, and it was mostly us Americans. Granted, there isn’t much that we can say about tea, in and of itself. Those of us with any particular tea background were largely influenced by Japanese tea traditions. There really was nothing to say. However, despite our poor efforts, the young man was kind enough to bring us all a thank you gift for our participation. That made me feel a bit guilty, but the deed was done.

JULY 15

Tonight I’m hanging out with some members from BPM~ I’m not sure what the plans are exactly. There was going to be a get together later in August, but it would be either when I was back in America, or in process of moving. I asked if we could also do one this month also, and they planned it for tonight. A Tuesday night, of all things, but at least my morning class is just over the kanji from chapter 15.

JULY 16

Last night was great! It started out kind of rocky on my end, but in the end we had a great time.

After practice, I hurried home to shower and then back out to Nagoya Station where I expected to meet the rest of the group. I was early, but then they decided to eat at Saizeriya before coming to the Station. I started in their direction, but they said it wouldn’t be long, so I bought my own dinner at McDonald’s and ate in on the corner. It was kind of embarrassing just sitting there and eating by myself, but I assumed they would come any minute. It was almost 11pm when they finally arrived; I was expecting a slightly bigger group, but there were only eight people. Maybe I was a little disappointed not to see certain faces that I was more close to, but I was glad to have the company anyway. I say that like this day was planned for me, which it was in my head, but really, I think it was just a hang out for them.

We caught the Meitetsu heading north of Nagoya and got off at Biwajima. From there, it was a short walk to Japan Rental Car, which up until that point I assumed only dealt with rental cars. Apparently, it’s also a karaoke place that allows one’s party to bring in their own food and drink (no sneaking). So the guys went out to buy the snacks and drinks, while the girls all settled in the room and changed into more comfortable clothes. They’re always dressed up to go somewhere, but I appreciate it when they finally let loose and tromp around in sweats. We managed to sing the night away, song after song, most of which I didn’t know. I really should practice more Japanese songs, but I hardly know any in my vocal range.

Day came, and the lot of us hobbled out into the light. Once again, I hadn’t slept, so I was awake, but tired. Once again, maybe for the last time, I headed straight to campus to review for the kanji quiz. During second period I half-napped in one of the empty classrooms. I couldn’t have prepared more for my thank you and farewell speech anyway. It was meant for BPM, but the atmosphere yesterday didn’t grant me the chance to read it. I’m not sure whether I should make a big deal out of the fact that I will be leaving, or not, since I will still be in Japan.

JULY 17

This morning we had something called a ‘first check’ of our apartments. Basically, Mr. Yoshida came to inspect our room to see if it was in one piece or if anything was messing. He also checked the condition of our bikes. I waited all morning for my turn, as supposedly each person would take up to thirty minutes. Most of that time was spent chatting in my case, since my room was clean and everything was in order. The next and ‘last check’ would be the final day we are allowed in our rooms; we will be returning our student IDs, our keys and our bikes. I could easily have set my last day to be the first of August, since I already have a new apartment to move in to. However, as the last of the students will be leaving on the sixth I volunteered to stay until the seventh so they had a place to sleep for the night after turning in their keys on the fifth.

Only two more days until I get the keys to my new place!

Speaking of which, I had to call the electric and gas company before I moved in. I had been putting the task of for the past few days because I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say. With only two days remaining, I had no choice but to call them today. First, I went to the international center and asked if they might help me with the call. In return they confidently said, ‘But you speak Japanese very well, why don’t you call them?’ I called the electric company first as I stood in front of them, just in case. I don’t know why I had been so nervous; the call was very quick and to the point. ‘What’s your address, when are you moving in, how will you make the payments?’ I have to thank the international center for believing in me. Now, I know that I can handle basic phone conversations like that on my own as well. I’ll be all right.

JULY 18

Game Night! It would have been amazing if the Sloppy Joes weren’t made with mixed beef. I basically ate chip sandwiches since I couldn’t have the meat, but they were really good chip sandwiches. We played Phase 10 the entire time, finally making it up to the 7th Phase. I need to find this game and buy it, though I don’t know who I will play with after everyone leaves…

JULY 19

Let the move in begin! I loaded up my rucksack and packed various odd shaped things, like pots and other necessary knick knacks around my room into the large blue luggage that I brought with me when I came to Japan. Then I set out from my room in Chambre 72. Today, I was heading down to Okazaki on my own, so I only took the first load along with me. It just so happened that today Shin and some of the guys were meeting to play futsal at the usual place. Mark and I hung out with Shin for a few hours last night, but I wanted to see the other futsal members as well, if I had the chance. It was a little out of the way, but I had left early for that reason.

As I marched down the street, dragging my luggage along, I noticed something was dragging. Just as I turned the corner that would take me down towards the campus, the wheel gave out. It didn’t break out, but the bottom support literally caved in on itself. I wasn’t about to haul that monster any further than was absolutely necessary, so I doubled back and went straight to the station. Thankfully, despite a little rain, the walk from Okazaki Station to the apartment dealers went considerably smoothly. I signed a few papers, received my keys, and walked up the road to my apartment.

Just as I entered my apartment the sky opened and it started to downpour. It was half-past 11am at the time, and the gas man was scheduled to arrive until 2pm. My first task was to turn on the breaker, but there were no instructions, just a switchboard near the door. My estimated guesses failed, so I asked Jason to take a picture of the breaker in his apartment. I knew that they were the same design, so I just needed to know which switches were up and which were down. It turned out that all I needed to change was the giant main switch, silly me.

After that, there was little else I could do so I unpacked my poor suitcase and laid on the patio furniture mattress that would be my bed until I bought a real futon. I waited and waited as the rain poured on and on. The gas man called around 2pm to say he would be an hour late. Had I known that, I might have tried to run to the hyaku-en shop as the rain slowed down. So I waited some more and the gas man finally came and did his job. Now I’ll have hot water as well.

Tonight it’s off to training again, and I’ll be spending my first night in my new home.

STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 45

JULY 6

It’s been too long since I have danced at Shirakawa Park. The weather today was a bit iffy, but it started out nice and sunny. Five of us were practicing, doing our own thing when I noticed someone watching in the corner of my eye. We made eye-contact and he spoke to me, ‘Do you speak English?’

Had he not asked this in a perfect American accent, I would have assumed he was Japanese. On the contrary, he was actually from Michigan! On top of that, he was a break dancer, but he was in Japan on a three-week internship as an engineer. Of all the people!

At the time he had just finished touring the science museum, so he happened to notice us as he passed by. He wasn’t meeting his friend until later that evening, so we offered him the chance to rest, or to join us if he’d like. It had been ‘months’ since he’s practiced, but he jumped right into it, despite the light rain that started to fall. Eventually, we moved our group to the basketball court, which was covered by the overpass and practiced there. As the first English-speaking break dancer I have met in the past year, I eagerly took his well-pointed advice. Now I’m trying to figure out how to do thread while I’m in a shoulder freeze. Thanks, Albert. Be seeing you again I hope.

JULY 7

I started packing and preparing for the move. What I really mean is that I’ve put away all my winter things nicely, and I have filled up my large orange luggage with things I am not using now, but will need later. It never hurts to start early. Then, evening practice in the Naka District.

JULY 8

After weeks of waiting, my group has finally been able to present our survey to the class. All the themes had a relation to school, and ours was about the commute. Almost a month ago we started our surveys by asking a few volunteer students who came to our class basic questions in regards to our research. We didn’t have to actually create another survey on our own accord, but since we only had two questions to investigate, and already eight people’s answers, we decided it was an opportune time.

I was in charge of the survey, but we divided the other research and presentation creation amongst the three of us. Not only were we to present on Japan’s school commute, but our home countries as well. As far as information goes, we filled our twenty minutes greatly, and that was before playing the video material. I wish our member had shown us the video beforehand, rather than playing the five minutes’ worth during the real presentation as we were on the clock. There were no questions to be asked, which may or may not have been a good thing. I think people just wanted to go to their next class. There will probably be a question session at the beginning of class next week.

JULY 9

It’s the second to last week of the semester, which means today was the second to last Business Japanese class we will have. Next week also happens to be the final exam, which will be similar to the midterm where we had to do role-plays. However, we also have to write a thank you speech, and practice new role plays such as telephone conversations ad lib. I hope I don’t get picked for the telephone conversation!

JULY 10

Our morning started out with a guidance meeting for the students who are going to return to their home countries soon. Granted, some of us are ready to go home, but I’m not. We spent about an hour or so being talked about canceling our Internet contracts, preparing for water and electric bills, returning our bikes to the university, cleaning up our rooms, and, of course, final paperwork. My only comfort was that if anything happened, I would still be around later to deal with it. But the harsh truth was very clear: in less than a month I would be saying good-bye to some of the most important people in my life, my second family.

Like I said it was depressing, but we couldn’t wallow in it. We still had more immediate preparations to make. The day after tomorrow four of us, Joy, Rachael, Aurianne and I were heading to Mt. Fuji. Joy and I rode our bikes to Donki for some last minute preparations, in particular headlamps. We intended to climb the mountain over the course of the day and into the night so that we could see the sunrise. Then, we hurried home to work on our final presentations for culture class tomorrow. Once again, we can present on anything we want, and I was still undecided until yesterday.

JULY 11

(I woke up just in time for the clouds to give way to the dawn.)

My second to last presentation topic of the semester, of my undergraduate career was this: Okami. Okami has several meanings when translated, all which depend on its kanji. The basis for my presentation was a Capcom video game that came out a few years back when I was in high school. In this game you played as Amaterasu, a god or okami, who comes down to Japan to save the people from the dark ages as a wolf, also okami, and your powers are used by drawing symbols on paper, the final kami. The main reason I chose this as my final subject was because this game opened my eyes to Japanese folklore. Every character, every story within the story has a link to a Japanese folktale. I’m a fan of folklore, and another big theme that I enjoy is past meets present. This game does exactly that, as it is a modern tool depicting old stories. I highly recommend it.

That said, I kind of tripped through the presentation itself. Maybe that was karma, or some foul curse that said any video I planned to use in my culture presentation would betray me. In this case, the voice over of the video was faster than I could read, but it wasn’t a real, clear language. So I constantly had to pause, read, and play the video again. It made my presentation much longer than the intended ten minutes.

STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 44

JUNE 29

This morning I went to Okazaki to sign the finalization of my apartment contract. The events have finally settled in, and I will be moving in a few weeks. While I was in Okazaki, I decided to walk to the mall and also check out the nearby Donki, where I bought some sportswear.

By the way, Ramadan is supposed to be starting soon, but I’ve been hearing different things about the starting day. Some are saying it’s tomorrow, and others are saying it’s Tuesday. I’m not sure, so I decided to start fasting from today. As long as this summer isn’t too humid, I think I won’t have a problem.

JUNE 30

I haven’t really had a chance to relax and do nothing the past couple weeks, and since I was out all day yesterday, that’s exactly what I did today after class. I sent in my book stuff to be printed; now it’s just time to wait until the proof copy is delivered.

JULY 1 - JULY 2

Today I decided to kick back a bit more. Joy and the others have decided to go climb Mt. Fuji on July 12th and 13th. That just so happens to be my birthday week. I couldn’t have planned a better way to spend my birthday than with them. As for climbing the mountain, if we can get all the way to the top it will be a great feat. I have a few doubts, since I’ve never done it before, but as far as fitness goes I think I can make the climb. I may be slow, but I will get to the top if that’s where we are going.

JULY 3

Today is all about BPM. They’re having another party down in Toyohashi tonight, which I almost missed out on. Initially the date was set for next Thursday, but it was suddenly changed to today. It’s probably going to go all night again, but I’m looking forward to seeing if any of the graduated students show up. This may also be the last time I can party with them as a student, so I have to make the most of it! Toyohashi here I come!

JULY 4

As expected, the party lasted all night. It wasn’t as lively as some of the other previous parties, and by that I mean a lot more people slept through the night. I considered napping once or twice myself, but I have a hard time doing so in public places. Instead I danced most of the night, and when morning came, this time I was showered and ready to start my day.

I actually had quite a Friday planned. After class, where presentations on Japanese instruments continued, I went to karaoke with Taiga and Rachael for the afternoon three-hour special. We needed to figure out what songs we can sing together, so I went for practice, she just went to be awesome.

Then, following an enriching karaoke experience, I met with Takahiro at the station. We headed down to Osu on the subway in search for yukatas, preferably cheap ones. Normally, a new, well-made yukata might go for a couple hundred dollars or so. If at all possible, I hoped to get the whole set: yukata, obi, and geta (wooden shoes) for less than a hundred. They had pre-made packs in Aeon for about one-hundred dollars; that was my back-up plan.

Thankfully, I didn’t need to go to Aeon after all. The first store we went into had two floors, with used yukatas and kimonos on the second floor. We checked the second floor first because some were as cheap as 500 yen! Unfortunately, we could find little that would suit my height, or that was the right material/color. We were pretty set on some sort of blue as the main color. Two middle-aged women graciously gave us advice on where to look for the right styles for summer, and they even went as far as to lead us, well me, around the store to try on different styles. They didn’t work there, they were customers like us, though clearly more experienced.

When the second floor proved to be insightful, but not plentiful, we headed down to the first floor. I expected prices to be through the roof, but there was actually yukata between 3000 and 5000 yen. There was only one blue one that would fit my height, I was worried if it would fit the girth of my hips, when suddenly another middle-aged woman came out of nowhere and started to properly dress me in the yukata. We had a red obi picked out, which she quickly wrapped around me and confirmed the sizes would fit. Thank you, random lady, for saving us the guess work. All I had to do was choose a pair of geta, which for my size was even harder to find, but there was a few extra-large pairs. In any case, they would have been tight because they were new. All that for about 7200 yen, perfect!

Following our shopping venture, Takahiro and I trudged back to Nagoya station so we could go to English Cafe Nite. There happened to be a large group visiting from California, which at least doubled the number of English speakers in the room. We played a game similar to telephone, only with gestures instead of speaking the phrases. Some of the phrases we had to act out were impossible to decipher: my group’s phrase was becoming a ghost, but it ended up looking like the rain came and something sprouted. Regardless, we had a great time, and I earned the right to a good night sleep. Good night!

JULY 5

Mark’s having a party tonight in his room. For the first time it’s not in my or Rachael’s room, so we’re grateful. It went well, as most parties do. Nobody came to hush us, though I thought sometimes we got a bit loud. Then, out of nowhere, Mark’s neighbor calls for his attention on the balcony. Next thing we know, he’s sitting in the room with us, talking about games. We thought he was going to tell us to be quiet, but he just came over to join the party. In fact, this was the same guy that I had talked to WAY back in September when there was a fire in the building across the street. Who knew he was Mark’s neighbor?

STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 42

JUNE 15

Akane and I headed to the apartment dealers this morning. I didn’t expect too much when we arrived because the place looked like a smaller dealer, unlike the big names in the business: Minimini, Suumo, etc. Thankfully, I was wrong.

It was only our first meeting, but they were able to pull out five locations within twenty minutes of the station that were under 400 a month. Not only that, but none of the locations minded whether or not I was a foreigner. I think that part of that reason was because I went to the dealer in person and they could see for themselves what sort of level my Japanese was at. At least, when he spoke on the phone with the owners, that fact came up each time. Each of the places he showed me fits my preferences, so it’s hard to pick on above the other. I do have a favorite that I’ve seen during my Internet searches as well. Next week, we’ll be back to check out the places in person.

With business taken care of, Akane and I biked over to Aeon Mall. We were basically killing time until twilight, when we were going to meet with Jon and a couple of Akane’s friends to go see the fireflies. The way she talked about them, it made me think that they were a rare sight to see; little floating magical orbs. Going to see the fireflies seemed to be one of the past-times at this time of year, so I anticipated the event.

We drove up into the mountains on the curviest road I have ever been on in my life. It was only two-lanes, so we had to be careful around each corner. Deep out in the country, only surrounded by fields and then towering trees. I was enjoying the scenery along the winding ride when suddenly we were told to stop outside of a tunnel and park along the side of the road. There was only other car in the area, so we thought it was a bit fishy. But, we all got out of the car and walked through the tunnel to the other side. Then it quickly became apparent as to why we had to park so suddenly. Both sides of the road were already lined with cars of other people who had come to see the fireflies. The area was particularly popular because of the clean water in the river which ran next to the mountain’s forests.

These fireflies that were the call of everyone’s attention are the same ‘lightning bugs’ that fill our backyards every summer in Toledo. Jon and I had to laugh because this was a normal sight for us. Though, I suppose, if they only gather in these secluded areas, then it would be a rare sight for the average Japanese citizen.

There was a small trail leading down from the road, past an elementary school, down to the riverside and then back up to the road. It did not take long to walk the entire trail, so soon we were heading back to the car. We ended up in the middle of the pack, meaning that a whole new group of go-seers had arrived after us, and some still arriving. As for us, we had only snacked on some mochi while we were there so we went off to find food. At that time of night, the only place open was Denny’s. I had pancakes for dinner.

JUNE 16

…Manga…

JUNE 17

After dance practice I headed to the City Pal apartments to join the Cho-Ko party. This month both Cho, one of the exchange students, and Natsuko, the Japanese student who is assisting with our culture class, have birthdays, so they created a party together. Many of the members still left at the party were the new Chinese exchange students, so afterward when we went to karaoke many of the songs were in Chinese. We stayed until morning, so once again I let two of the girls stay in my room overnight.

JUNE 18

…Training…and it’s raining…

(View from the JR train from Nagoya to Gamagori as it rains.)

(My first attempt to explain the hard and soft ‘th’ sounds.)

JUNE 19

…Manga…Dance…

JUNE 20

Game night, we meet once again!

We started out playing Blocks, but as the members at our table grew, Rafael suggested that we play Phase 10. The makers of UNO know how to make great card games. As the name suggests, there are 10 Phases of the game, but some of us only reached the third Phase before time ran out. I’m looking forward to playing it again next month. Though, sadly it will be our last Game Night together… June is going by too quickly!!

Once again, I went to dance in Naka District with the guys. I happened to see a few more familiar faces, including that of Pepsiman. The Pepsiman I knew was always wearing short shorts, and he danced very feverishly. Today, he wasn’t dancing, and seemed a lot calmer than usual. I greeted him and we ended up talking; it turns out that he hasn’t practiced dance recently, he was frustrated with it. In some ways I understood him because I was having troubles with dance recently as well. In his case, he had been so competitively recently that dance wasn’t fun anymore, he needed to rethink it. I, on the other hand, need to up my ante and challenge myself more.

There was something self-assuring about hearing that he, as well as other dancers, have had their hard times as well. It seems to be an obvious fact, but to hear it from their own mouths really hits home. It’s hard now, but soon, very soon I’ll be free to dance and improve again. If I think about it, when I started drawing, I made a good jump my first year, and then it was a consistent slow but steady progress. I didn’t notice it because I was just enjoying myself; I wasn’t comparing my skills to others as much. Then I made a few more jumps, and here I am. If I put my mind to it, I can create anything. I think, once this project of mine is completed, I can do that again.

JUNE 21

We had a make-up class today, in place for the survey class we missed at the beginning of the semester. What really happened is we watched Mark and Aurianne’s final presentation for the class. They are in the new B class, so we usually don’t get to see each other’s presentations. However, for these final presentations, the teacher wants us all to present together, so from next week on our class times will overlap.

After class I went to training and then karaoke again with Rachael and a few others. How can I say no when our time together seems so short?

STUDY ABROAD:WEEK 41

JUNE 9

How was today already the second to last International Cafe?? This semester is going too fast. It’s too short. I don’t know what it is. Last semester was mid-September to mid-January because we had a couple breaks. This semester it’s just a straight fifteen weeks, beginning of April to the end of July.

I hung around school after the Cafe was over, expecting that I would be going to the fitness room with Shin after his class. I didn’t know until afterward that he went earlier in the day, during 4th period. Instead of working out, we bought some dinner from MaxValu and ate at Chambre 72. Then, he wanted me to show him how to dance, so we had a brief ‘This is how you dance hip hop’ session on the roof that consisted mostly of moving with the down beat.

JUNE 10

…Manga…Dance…

JUNE 11

I have been seriously looking for apartments the past couple weeks, you know, during all my free time. The only thing I know for sure is that I want to try and live in Okazaki, and I would like a place for less than 400 a month. I didn’t have too many preferences except that it was on the second floor, or higher, had a balcony, hardwood floor, storage space, a slightly larger kitchen space than my current place, and a place to put a washing machine.

A few days ago I sent an inquiry to one of the apartment searching companies, asking if the apartments would allow a foreigner to live there. Today, I received the reply: the owner would not like to rent to a foreigner. That kind of sucked, because I really liked the place in the pictures. It had a lot of closets set in the walls, too.

But, was this my first case of prejudice?

I don’t think so. Granted, the owner knows nothing about me, I can understand why they wouldn’t want to rent out to just any foreigner. What if I couldn’t speak Japanese? Or, what if I didn’t know Japanese house customs? I’ve done my research and I’ve read about some bad cases. My contact was happy to inform me that there were two other locations in their database that would allow foreigners if I was interested. That led me to contact Akane. She lived in Okazaki and recently moved into her own apartment. We decided it was best to go directly to the apartment dealer’s, so that’s what we’ll do on Sunday.

JUNE 12

…Manga…Futsal…Dance…

Joy couldn’t come to futsal today, so I went alone. I only played with the girls today, which is fun, but they still group up too much. Once they start to spread out and get a hang of the game then I think it will be a lot more fun. I also met some more of the guys in the club, mostly third years like Shogo. They seem pretty cool. One of the guys is named Rikiya, but his nickname is Rickey, which also happens to be the same name of one of the club’s main teams: Rickey’s. I wonder if he has something to do with that.

JUNE 13

As a member of the newspaper club, Yuto asked me last week if I wouldn’t mind doing an interview with one of his juniors. He couldn’t join us for the interview, but we managed pretty well, I think. I couldn’t tell what his junior thought of my answers, and there were only a few basic questions prepared. Those basic questions were nearly over before we started, since I had sent the information to Yuto prior. I gave the interviewer more information, checking to see if there was anything else she wanted to ask about. Somehow, the topic settled on manga. I was hoping to keep that secret from the mass, if for no other reason than I didn’t want to be written off as another person who came to Japan because of manga and anime. I guess we’ll see how that turns out.

JUNE 14

…Manga… so much toning to do…

STUDY ABROAD:WEEK 40

JUNE 1

Oh no! It’s already June and I’m still not done with my manga! My birthday is next month. I have no choice, but to put more time and effort into it. Sorry in advance.

The good news is that today I managed to complete the final touches on chapters 8-12. The final two chapters, 13 and 14, are also ready to be cleaned up since I scanned in all 80 pages yesterday. I’ve done so much this past month already, but there is still more to do.  Soon I will be entering the home stretch.

JUNE 2

I had to take a break from working on ‘you know what’ in order to homework for this week. There’s going to be quite a few days that I’ll probably just isolate myself and work on finishing up these last two chapters, so please bear with me. I won’t bother you with the dreary details too much.

On the other hand, I salvaged a lily that fell off my ikebana when we moved it to the second floor. The closed bud has now opened up!

JUNE 3 - JUNE 5

Three days of going to class, and then coming home to work on manga. I did go to dance practice on Tuesday and Thursday, that’s the only thing keeping me sane. I also had training on Wednesday. Honestly, I keep forgetting how long a simple task like cleaning up line art can take. Then again, there is about eighty pages…

JUNE 6

The morning and afternoon went as expected. However, this evening I made plans to meet with Kazu. She invited me to an all-girl’s dance practice in Fushimi. I’ve seen pictures of the groups online before, but this would have been my first time going.

I met Kazu and two other girls (all break dancers) at Fushimi Station and from there we walked to the studio. The small studio was actually right above a hair salon, and down the street from where Long’s apartment used to be. I thought it would be a bigger room, but once everyone showed up it quickly became very small. About thirty people showed up over the next few hours, dancing genres of all kinds: hip hop, jazz, wack, lock, and, of course, break.

Fushimi’s famous Eri also made an appearance, though I suppose she is famous throughout Japan’s break dance world by now. I watched her perform at Dance@LIVE in Tokyo. She’s someone that I can look forward to, as a future challenge, WAY in the future. I mean, I may never challenge her, but it’s good to have someone’s level to reach for. I didn’t have a chance to speak with her directly, and though I was primarily there to practice break dance I also floated around to the hip hop genre for a while. I saw familiar faces, but I didn’t know anyone outside Kazu and the two girls I arrived with. So I made a few more acquaintances.

We danced in the studio until 11pm and then everyone started on their own ways home. I walked with Kazu back to Nagoya Station. There we parted and I continued home on my own in the light cool rain. Tomorrow it’s back to the grind.

JUNE 7 - JUNE 8

The saga continues. Line art is clean, proceeding to add contrast with black ink.

We ate at one of the restaurants where a Taiwanese exchange student is working part-time. It’s famous for its udon dishes, so a couple of us tried the shrimp tempura miso udon.