August 14th

Sorry again about that last post.
I’m in a much better mood now, although I’m still doubtful my whole Internet/ cell phone thing will work.
Well, I guess my phone will work, it’s just worst case scenario that I have to wait till mid-November (which sucks, badly, but whatever).
Today (Thursday, the 14th) Takasugi-san and I went to City Hall again to try to get my gaijin ID card. I guess we have to wait two weeks now. Maybe with that, I can prove I’ll be here for over 90 days so I can get my phone? Whatever, we’ll see.

I also went out to try to get my school uniform figured out. Of course, the company that makes it is now on vacation, so I won’t have it for a few weeks either. But it should work out.
In the meantime, I’m going to try on Yota’s uniform. [Correction: Never did this, I just wore slacks and a white shirt and it was fine. I got it pretty quick too.]
Yeah, Yota….you know…the guy from Asahikawa that’s currently in Bloomington? Maybe some of you guys have even met him. Although it is doubtful, because he’s gonna go to Bloomington High School. Be nice to him if you do meet him though; he’s likely as lost as I am. I wish I could have met him, but he left pretty much the same time I did, so we must have crossed paths over the Pacific.
Anyhow, I seriously doubt his uniform will fit me. I mean, I don’t even know him, and I hate to be stereotypical, but I tend to imagine a Japanese guy as smaller than an American.
Which reminds me of how funny I thought it was when they were trying shoe sizes for me and thought I had huge feet. Hah. I’m shoe size 10. I’m sure there will be at least a few of you there reading this that are at least size 13. Actually, I’d love to see Brooks or Nathan Liston here. Both tall, with gigantic feet.
Oh especially Brooks, because on top of everything, he’s blond and got blue eyes. Try to imagine a Japanese person who is (naturally) blond. =]
Oh yeah, Brooks.
You’d fit right in. XD

Now, the TV report.
This morning I saw Tom and Jerry on TV. It was really awesome, because for those of you who are from another planet and are unfamiliar with the show, there’s virtually no speaking, so there was no language barrier. It was very cool. That show always lifts my mood.
Also, besides the Olympics today, we flipped through the channels after dinner, and I saw Pokemon on TV. It was so awesome. I haven’t watched that show in years, but face it, I think everyone’s still got a special place in their hearts for Pokemon.
Pikachu’s probably the second most well known rodent in the world, after Mickey Mouse, if he’s not first himself. And like Tom and Jerry, you can’t really translate “Pikachuuuuuuuu,” so at least the Pokemon communication was pretty easy to pick up XD.
And then I watched the new Naruto, without understanding very much. But hey, at least it’s not impossible to interpret what’s going on. It’s pretty straightforward. Get a show like Death Note, though, where the story throws all sorts of craziness at you, and that’s more complicated.

Oh, on a cool note, I ate at KFC today. I had a sandwich….or rather, two, because the serving size here is incredibly small. But hey, it was delicious, and only a few hundred yen, so not to bad on any account.

Another food related story.
Today I had ika for dinner.
Yeah, ika is squid.
It was…different. But once you get over the fact you’re eating a freaking squid, it’s really not so bad. I enjoyed it, actually.

Anyhow, at the moment, I’m excited for Saturday. I called Alex, the Australian AFSer and we’re planning out something for then. I’ll probably go play some Wii at his house, and then meet up with some of the other AFS guys later. Maybe even a movie. I’m looking forward to it.

In any case, I’m gonna get ready to go to bed. Tomorrow morning we’ve got…well…something going on, and it has to do with honoring the dead in our family and stuff, so that sounds pretty important.
I’ll write you guys when I know more about that.

Good morning to you guys; but as for me, it’s off to bed.
Way to be a day behind. XD

Miss you guys.