Small update with current events

So right now it's 12:17 AM in Japan. I have time to post because tomorrow is a yasumi (day off)! Naze? (Why?) Due to a typhoon coming today the college was closed...elementary school and middle school kids still have to go to class, mwahahaha ^_< ....though unfortunately I just realized that I need to withdraw money before Friday, so I'm going to have to go out in this tsoyoi kaze (strong wind) and rain tomorrow...doh! >_< style="font-style: italic;">*Note: In Japan there are clubs and circles. Clubs are more rigorous, training every day, and I think they play against other colleges. Circles are just for fun, usually only practicing a few times each week. They're a good place to meet friends for ryuugakusei, or just any student in general. I'm going to try to join the soccer circle as well, but they're summer practice schedule conflicts with my class schedule, so I have to wait until the actual school starts. Anyways, the guys on the basketball team are all around 30 or so. It's common for there to be adult sport leagues in Japan. I know of mamasan volleyball, which is a volleyball league for moms (I'm guessing due to their young age nature, they're able to play better than American moms). My host mom is in that league, which is apparently why I haven't been invited over for dinner or anything (that and from what Ken said she's probably a little stuck-up).

Ken's really cool. He's essentially the leader of the basketball group, and probably a leader amongst his friends. Sort of like Koki and the tutors, except this guy has more of a presence. He's an attractive 37-year-old, half-Indian and half-Japanese, from the small southern Japanese island Okinawa. His father was in the US Navy. He studied business at Northridge for about 4 years, so his English is decent, and he worked at a famous sushiya (sushi store) in Hollywood (or Santa Monica, I can't remember), so he's met a lot of famous actors and singers. He surfed a lot in California and Hawaii, as well as in Tijuana. He's got 4 tattoos, with one being in a place "only for the wife to see." He loves Naruto (a famous anime, and probably my favorite) and he's really nice. He's also really strong. Even though he only lifts once a week for about 2 hours, I couldn't even budge his arm when we arm wrestled (it's a bit embarrassing to lose to a Japanese guy, not going to lie ^_<). Standing at about 5'10", he was captain of his basketball team in high school, so he's by far the best player out on the court. He's currently the assistant manager of his father's construction company, which nets him a hefty salary.

Anyways, after basketball we went to a bathhouse. I'm not sure whether or not to call it an onsen since it wasn't natural, but it was really relaxing. We had some food beforehand (that's when I ate chewy squid tentacles for the first time), then got naked, rested in the hot water, and talked (well I tried to understand what they were saying, throwing in random comments every now and then). Ken invited me to come eat at his house next week. His wife will be done with her final mamasan volleyball tournament by then, so she'll finally have time to cook for me (note I'm none to happy with her since apparently the kids and husband really wanted to meet me but she kept blowing it off...I had to always be the one to send emails, trying to get us to meet, and the entire time I was just pawned off on her husband). So, that's something fun to look forward to next week.

This weekend a bunch of us are going to Tokyo on Saturday to do some shopping. I'll be going to the Costco as well as one of the other places to get a bunch of clothes and presents, and we're all going to go to the Tokyo Tower at night. It'll be a lot of fun!

Finally, I'll close this update with one thing I've noticed. If someone were to ask me "What's Japan like?", I'd respond "It's sort of like Mexico but with clean water." At least, that seems to be the mentality of the people here. They're hard workers during the day and hard partiers at night. Also, when held to American standards, they're fairly lewd. I've already been asked at least three times from different people how "big" I am. The conversations I have with the adult men here tend to be even more crude than the college student conversations back home. Perhaps I just don't hang around those type of people in America and that's why it seems new to me, or perhaps it's Japan's normal liberal stance on sex and other topics that the religious agenda in America often tries to keep under wrap. Regardless of the reason, it certainly makes for interesting conversation, as well as expanding my lexicon with more...interesting words than I would have thought I'd learn.

Okay, I lied. In a final note, I really do HATE bugs. I don't know what exact kind caused this, but I've got 14 separate bites on my left hand alone.

Ewww...I feel like going Michael Jackson-style and only wear one glove.

The rest of my body is okay, but it just seems to be that my left hand is particularly savory to insects. I'm thinking they might be shindaimushi (bed bugs) due to some brown residue stain left on my bed sheets and the nature of the bites, though my efforts to find any have been to no great avail, and since it's raining neko and inu (cats and dogs ^_<) here, it's hard to have the sun kill off the bugs (or do laundry, for that matter, though it's supposed to clear up over the weekend). I've put some medicine on the bites, and I think they're slowly recovering, but it's hard to tell. Doug, or anyone who's had experience with this kind of bug infestation problem, what do you recommend? As it is now I sleep on the ground, so I figure once I clean my mattress I'll move it to the loft where we were originally intended to sleep, though I don't know if that'll help matters or not. It's much more convenient to sleep on the ground and have my set-up the way it is now, so if it's not really going to matter much by moving to a higher sleeping ground, then I'd prefer not to do that...moreover, I've killed all the ka (mosquitoes) I've seen in my room and been careful to keep my doors shut, so I haven't seen any bugs or flies or spiders in my apartment for a few days now, but it seems that every morning I wake up with a new bite. I've tried spraying mushiyoke (bug spray) all over me, but to no real avail. Tetsudattekudasai! (Please help!)