This sign was the funniest part of my week….

Sorry for being a little late with this post. I have had a few things going on the past few nights which kept me from putting my attention to this.

I wish I had some new news from work, but not much has really changed. I am still enjoying the job and my coworkers. I have been here for 6 months now which oddly is enough to make me one of the “veterans” in the office. People keep asking ME questions and looking to me to help with things. And not just helping reach things that are on a high shelf, real work things!

It’s weird to think that I have been here for 6 months already. I’m only a few days from being halfway through my initial contract. My renewal meeting is looming and my plans for the future couldn’t be any less solidified. I have tons of possibilities floating around in my head right now, each one seeming completely random, if not a polar opposite when considering it against the next. It is a nice feeling knowing I can do anything I want to, and go wherever I want to go. The only problem is that I am one of the most indecisive people I have ever known… I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.

I am having fun here in Japan though. This weekend my friends in Osaka had a “house” party. I met a bunch of new people. The hosts of the party have all become good friends of mine now since I usually crash on their couch whenever I go out in Osaka. I didn’t know many people outside of the people that lived in the apartment though. It wasn’t hard to meet anyone though. Only two of the 6 people that live there are Japanese, so the guests were quite a mix of nationalities. I didn’t meet anyone who didn’t speak English though. Everyone was really cool and we all had a lot of fun.

I ended up arriving to the party around 10 after taking it easy for a little bit after work. Greg and his friend Yuu came down from Kyoto as well. We hung out at the apartment until around 1. The cops came twice, and the second time they suggested that we start to turn things down, so people began to leave. Most of us went out to the club together. It was a great time. We had a solid group and did a nice job of occupying the dance floor.

Again, as usual we stayed out until well after sunrise and capped off the night/had breakfast at one of Osaka’s tastiest ramen shops.

On Sunday I woke up in my friends living room with many other people all around still sleeping. Everyone was moving by about 1230 or 1. We finally made it out of the house to get some food around 2, again travelling with a pack of foreigners. We went and dominated an all you can eat Italian buffet. It was pretty good for an all-you-can eat  buffet. It made us all much less compelled to move though. We sat and some slept in the restaurant for about an hour after we finished eating, then we headed to get some coffee so we would have enough energy to make the 15 minute walk back “home”.

As soon as we go there everyone laid down again on the couches and we watched a movie. I managed to stay awake for the whole thing surprisingly enough. After the movie I had to head out. I knew if I stayed much longer it would mean me falling asleep on their couch again and not getting home until late Monday.

On Monday I did the normal thing in the morning and cleaned my apartment. I headed to the boxing gym around 3. It was pretty fun as usual. I ran into the only member who speaks English. I had met him before when he helped translate as I was signing up, and I saw him again one day as I was leaving. This week he came up and was asking me all kinds of questions and we exchanged numbers planned to get a beer sometime. He is a cool guy. A good bit older than me. He says he owns a construction company and some other company he was unable to really explain in English. He doesn’t speak the best English, but he is a local guy and seems cool enough. He likes NFL football though, he is a Buffalo Bills fan. I hope we can get together sometime and I can practice some Japanese.

After boxing, I headed to Osaka to meet my coworker Elizabeth for a beer. We have both been talking about how we need to find some craft beer somewhere. She found a list of craft beer bars online and we now have a nice “To-Do List”. We headed to this Bar/Restaurant called Garage 39. It really reminded me of some places I used to frequent in college (Specific Gravity, and Evolution Brewery) The beer was expensive, but it was so nice to taste some delicious IPAs!

I really missed good beer! It is almost impossible to find anything other than big corporate Budweiser type beers, in the stores around here. The food was really good too! We stayed for a few hours and tried to make some conversation with the employees. I am getting a little bit better with my Japanese, but Elizabeth can talk circles around me. She puts a lot more effort in with studying. Oh well, I have been having fun of my own!

So I made it home around 1130 and went to bed. The past 2 days at work have been more of the same. I have a new kids student taking private lessons who is a bit of a handful to say the least. As my Uncles would say “That boy needs some discipline!”. I got through that lesson today. He just cried to his mom, kicked and screamed, and threw things. He didn’t utter one word of English. I just colored pictures to kill the time. I meant it to look like I was trying to lure him into joining me, but really I was just trying to ignore his ear-piercing attention starved shrieks. I really cant wait for next week!

The rest of the week is a no lesson week for my kids classes so I wont have as much work to help pass my time. I do get exhausted teaching kids sometimes, but I would rather have something to do than be bored at work.

I am excited for this weekend though. Some friends and I are going to climb Mt. Fuji on Sunday night. We are planning to make the 5 hour ascent in the dark to be there for the sunrise. That is supposed to be the best time to be there. This weekend is the last weekend the trail will be opened until June so I am sure it will be crowded. I am looking forward to it though.

I hope all of you have a good week. I should have some nice Fuji pics to post next week. Thanks for reading.