Wednesday

As you can tell I am running out of clever titles.

Today I got up pretty early and I was going to meet Rachel at uni to see about going to the gym here. It was raining today. But it was that light misty Seattle rain. So an umbrella didn't really help but it helps you fit in here. And for white people that is crucial. So because of the rain type weather it took us a little to find the gym. We found it, sort of by accident. When we got into the foyer, it didn't look like a gym at all. But the sign said it was a gym.. So we just decided to follow the girls right in front of us. They handed their ID's to the man behind the glass and got a key. This was the key to a locker. So we got a key and followed the girls upstairs to the locker room area. So I went to the guy's locker room and Rachel was going to meet me on the other side and we would go from there. But you were supposed to take your shoes off at the locker room. Which really confused me. So I put my backpack in the locker and walked in my socks to the other side of the locker room. I was expecting to see maybe a weight room or something. But it definately was like a small little hallway. So I went up and down the hallway and up the stairs and such but couldn't make sense of it. So I went back to the front of the locker room and I saw Rachel and she said she was going to follow the girls to the weight room but all the girls in the locker room were just sitting and talking. I guess it's a big hangout or something? So we looked around the building for a while, probably looking like big morons all the while. We saw one weight room but it was pretty small, like room for 5 people maybe and one guy was in there already and looked serious. So we just decided to give up and ask someone later. So we turned in our keys and got our ID's back from the man behind the glass. And on the counter was an ad for the Wendy's nearby with coupons attached. Of course we got a few of these, coupons are rare and so is Wendy's. So basically we went to the gym, got lost and got a coupon from Wendy's. How American is that?

After that I decided to study a bit in the library. For some reason the library is like 4 degrees warmer than the rest of the school. But really quiet. So a good place to do actual work. Then I had class and went home. Thrill.

My internet has lately been really crotchety and not letting me put pictures on here. So someday I'll get some on here. Until then, you'll have to use your imagination.

Since I don't really have anything else interesting to say, I can tell you about some of the snack food here. It's really interesting to me. I don't think this kind of stuff could sell in the US at all. The major reason is that it's not full of trans fat and heavily salted. There is something here that is basically seasoned dry ramen. You don't really think about doing that, but it's really good. Unfortuantely it comes in nasty flavours everynow and then like "Mayo-Corn". But for the most part it is good. There is some sort of cracker here that is really popular. I'm not sure of the name right now. But the taste is pretty much like the sea. No matter what flavour you get, it always has that hint of the ocean. But these cracker things come in spicy flavours sometimes. Which, in Japan, is highly appreciated. Not much of anything here has any sort of spice. Except the curry. But even that is pretty mild compared to indian curry. Also the drinks here that you buy in the vending machines are pretty interesting. I just noticed that 2 days ago, they have started including some hot drinks in the machine. So that must mean fall is in full swing. But the drinks are mostly juices or some sort of dairy creation. Pop is pretty rare and is usually just coke. Even rarer is ginger ale. And even rarer than that, everynow and then there is a Dr. Pepper. And only once, at the 100 yen store near a station near here, I saw mountain dew cans. Kind of funny when you think that all they sell in vending machines in the US is pop. And here pop is barely in there.