kinyoubi

Mao, a pretty talented tako roller

Erika, Kyon, Mao, Me - we had the security gaurd take our picture in the middle of the night...if I weren't leaving in 2 weeks, I think I might get fired for this past weekend ;)

I've never seen such a cheerful holdup

oishii! deep fried mocchi, cheese, and eggplant (one of several assortments)

We ate next to Billiken, and we rubbed his feet afterward

Obviously, I'm a few days behind. But once you read the next few entries (or skim and look at pictures), you will see why.

On Friday, after more speech contest tutoring, I taught my two Abeno community adult English classes, beginners at 10:40, intermediate at 1 (keep in mind: those classifications are self-appointed and therefore completely off-base). These are probably my favorite classes to teach. Of course, I love my Kiritan students and teachers, but my Friday lessons give me a bigger sense of responsibility and influence. It's a lot of pressure, and I love that. I feel like my adult students come eager to learn. They are paying for this and veering from their normal daily routine, so they expect to be taught well. I love that attitude. In turn, it influences me to teach better, clearer, and more seriously.

After class, my beginners and I went to a nearby district to eat kushikatsu (deep fried vegetables and meat that you can dip into a community pot of sauce - no double dipping!). Though unbelievably fun and delicious, I was late for my own slumber party and extremely stuffed.

So when I finally did arrive home, my three guests agreed to hold off on our takoyaki party until later. In the meantime, we watched South Park (Kenny's mom's voice is ridiculously proper in Japanese), practiced English and Japanese, and went out for purikura. These girls were hilarious. As we talked about Japanese youth and culture, I started to realize how completely different they are from my guests last weekend or last semester's girls. Sometimes I think Japan is more diverse than America, despite the stereotypes. Their clothes and fashion are the same, but their personalities, goals, communication styles, and senses of humor are all over the charts. I guess the only difference is that, in Japan, it takes much longer to crack through the exterior fashion and manners into that unique personality.

We finally had our tako, then stayed up talking until about 2/3am. When I awoke at 5am to get ready for Fuji, I found three sleeping girls and a couple of encouragement/thank you notes hidden around the house.