hear the army

noush: and i’m as glad to see someone is reading my posts!! 😉 as far as the finger goes, here’s the 1 week progress report:

i really tried not to pop it but..it’s on my right hand!! naturally it busted by nightfall. i then proceeded to smother it with neosporin daily – that stuff is magic.

thanks to a mutual friend, we made a new friend last weekend! elaine came from SF to explore Japan some on her own and some with her sister + husband. we spend sunday afternoon touring a sake brewery where isseki swindled us three times the sake we were supposed to get for the tour (undoubtably taking full advantage of his “looks like a foreigner” status)! from there we did a bit of the kobe sights and headed out to eat with my language exchange friend, jun-san, and one of her friends, ayako-san. the night certainly became more interesting after isseki returned home and left us to drink more at a bar – he being the only bilingual one of us all – but, as you do, we managed to communicate throughout the evening and have a blast. it was quite a shock to find myself trying to explain what was happening in japanese to elaine in english and vice versa. kinda comforting to know i can actually do it a little now but still humbling to realize how many words i just don’t know so have to talk all around to get to the meaning. wish i had a recording of it!

jun-san also gave my a japanese cooking lesson yesterday! i learned how to make cold udon salad and plum rice. both look quite simple when she prepares them but i’m sure it won’t work out that way when i try! we have such fun together hanging out i sometimes forget about the language exchange – i hope i never cheat her out of her proper english time and that she benefits from it too! regardless, i feel like i have a new friend and that makes me happy! i can’t recall a time in japan where my friends have lived within walking distance!