26 July 94 (Tuesday) Whoo whee -- I've been up since 4am. Yuk! Okeedokee - this is what I've been doing: Monday, I went to Seibu and bought alot of omiyage - I've got to make a list and match names and presents. Some I bought w/ particular people in mind (like the Toilet map & John) but some can be sloshed around bet. Ma, Amy & Carey and my other female friends. I just love shopping here! On Sunday we had a picnic and I felt kinda weird because my class was supposed to bring dessert and I got =alot= of tomatoes and cucumbers (yasui kara) but surprisingly they were all eaten up except for a few cucumbers. There was one massive water fight that I luckily stayed out of and a tug-of-war that us [something] gakusei won twice, lost once. It really wasn't that interesting, but a lady came w/ a golden retriever puppy and I had fun playing w/ it. Today more shopping and I got Brad's dirt for him (yeah!) [Brad told me he liked getting dirt from foreign countries so he could smell that country] Tomorrow: Karaoke densya time - we're riding on the streetcar for 2 hours doing karaoke - for free! Friday: going to see the pageant thins I've been in. Saturday & Sunday: Going to Aomori... looking at shrines and doing the sports festival thing... Monday: I'm a samurai! in a parade. with a real sword and the whole shebang. Tuesday: akafun! Half naked men carrying shrines while women bang drums, carry supports to rest the shrines on, pour water on and fan the men. And we serve them drinks, It's kind of like Mardi Gras. I really like the Japanese festivals here - I don't think they'll ever go away because they're too much fun (the same was true of the Romanns, but they made the mistake of changing religions) There's more to come. Sad to say I'm running out of insight on Japan. I've just been here too long that I just don't see things anymore -- it's not that I've lost my "American perspective" but, in truth, I can only experience so much of Japanese life. For example, I think I've forgotten to mention the custom of chuugen here (I hate writing Japanese words in romaji its [tchuugen in kanji & kana]) In Japan, there are 2 gift-giving seasons - one at the end of the year and one in July. So in July, every day people come by and drop off gifts or gifts are delivered here - almost always fruit jelly or juice or sweets or anything like that. Luckily, okaasan gives the food to people who visit so we use up the gifts that way. I think food is a good generic gift here for it gets =used=up= and I think the Japanese really appreciate food and its preparation and display even more than the French. But there's just so much knick-knacks from people (like me) who were so unkind to give something that would have to sit around. This really is a shopping nation - gifts are always being bought for everyone - and the gifts aren't terribly specific or personal, I believe, as one expects in America. Got another letter from Brian. I'm glad he has written me regularly - I like reading his letters (Guess what? Russell's going to Chicago!) Another game show (we watched it in class today): the contestants, after talking w/ people for a little bit (all the subjects were guys that we saw - maybe being polite, but we did only see 3) would guess the people's ages - there was a guy who would pass for 30s in the U.S. but was really 62 (I saw wrinkles around his eyes, so I knew he had to be older because wrinkles come =much= later for Asian people.) And a guy who looked 30 was really 19 (just like Brian - he had a beard - beards usu make men look older.) They can turn any simple thing here into a game show.