More Beef Please . . .

Good Evening and Good Morning All,

Despite the drastic drop in temperature and the over 40 hours of rain we experienced on wednesday and thursday, it has been easy living in Kyoto, Japan. This week my heart goes out to those few in this world who take time out of their schedule to communicate, coordinate, and follow through; thank you. To give you some context to my kudos I'll tell you of this week's events, all of which were organized by the aforementioned upstanding citizens.

Wednesday Evening

I had just finished a long day of classes and had spent an hour or so in the International Centre reading a photographic essay about the beautiful state of Washington (or did I just look at the photographic essay . . . ) before heading off to the first organized event of the week. The English Speaking Society of Ritsumeikan had been emailing me constantly to receive confirmation about a fun night of chatting in english, telling stories, eating snacks, and of course playing the infamous JENGA, which ended up being the foundation of the night's complete success. A friend of mine from Japanese class Jill and I were placed in a room with a very fun group of Japanese students, all of whom had the most rudimentary english speaking skills. After the drawn out self-inroductions, we finally got to crack the seal on the tea, the cookies, and begin a good old fashion game of JENGA. If I were to change one thing about the event I would have chose a game that involved covnersation other than, "OH, don't chose that block ... WOW, you're good at this game ... OH, scary, you're going to destroy the tower." etc. However, the bright student organizers of the the Ritsumeikan English Speaking Society had devised a way in which more conversation could arise. Who ever destroyed the tower would find the block that so fatefully caused the destruction, locate the coloured dot that was drawn on the block and proceed by telling a story that corresponded to the colour categories written on the chalk board. The categories were something along the lines of a love story, a summer vacation, a "getting angry" story, and what have you. Hori, a Japanese student and member of the English Speaking Society was the first to bring destruction upon the tower. When asked to tell a recent love story he said simply, "I cannot ... I have forgotten how to love."

Hori struggled as he stood at the front of the class room. A few words came out, broken and unintelligible, at least to the rest of the group. As the last syllable rolled off of Hori's tounge I said, " Trauma, you had a trauma?" Hori looked at me and pointed in assurance. He began his story, his words weighted down with almost a year of supression. He said he had had a girlfriend in the Kansai area (Osaka and Kyoto) that moved to Fukuoka, which is on Kyushu, the most south western island of Japan's four main islands. Hori continued as he recalled the sparse communication he shared with his girlfriend via phone and email that followed her unfortunate change in location. Feeling incomplete, Hori decided to make a last ditch effort to see his girlfriend, now in Fukuoka. He travelled to Kyushu by train, all the time thinking of the joyful reunification that was to come, even more exciting was the fact that to his girlfriend, Hori's arrival was to be unannounced. When Hori stepped off the train and found his way to his girlfriend's college campus, Hori opened his keitai (cellphone) and dialed the number of his girlfriend, not knowing that the last time he would do so. She picked up the phone, Hori quickly informed her that he was in Fukuoka and promptly asked if a meeting could be arranged. Upon hearing this, Hori's girlfriend would utter the last words he would ever hear her say, "いいえ、絶対無理です。(No, that would be impossible." At least these were the last words Hori would remember her saying. A long pause and an deep, audible, undefeated breath from Hori seemed to raise the spirits of the room once again, Hori is a strong man and it shows that he will some day love again. Heavy right?

Thursday Evening

The next night was more exciting, less peotic, involved alot less english speaking, and much more food. A group of about 10 exchanged students and roughly 7 Ritsumeikan students from the women's volleyball team went out for Yakiniku. These types of restaurants are known for their all-you-can-eat/all-you-can-drink specials; 2500 yen for an hour and a half of fun, and alter regret, for those who drink too much that is. I love cooking and that is exactly what one gets to do at a Yakiniku restaurant. There is a grill in the middle of the table and the waiters are continuously bringing new plates of meat, including and not limited to: thin steak, cubed steak, tounge (delicious), vegitables, kimchi (thank you Korea), rice, and BEEEEEEEEEER. I rest my case now as I indeed rested myself after that night.

I have been laying low this weekend getting prepared for my first big test of the year, which is on tuesday. As many wisemen from many different countries have said before-in numerous languages-and will continue to say, "なるようになるだろう。What ever will be will be."

This week's shout out goes to Hannah Miranda Miller, an avid reader, a move maker, and beloved cousin. Stay up Hannah, say hi to your folks and make sure Seattle knows that I miss her.

Until Next Time Family and Friends.
じゃ、また。