Good Times

Japan is a blast! But before I get to that, I should talk about some of the other random things I did before I got here... The last week in Germany was a blur. Totally insane. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have expected to have my parents visit for a week, pack out the next two days, and ship a car all during my last week of work, where I was still expected to contribute. I spent my last few days with friends and freaking out about packing everything. Shipping my car was a 3-day ordeal, but I suppose it's worth the stories. I can't wait for the paycheck to come in for that one... I'm looking for a Mini here, but will probably get a midget Nissan instead. I can't wait to post pictures of that one! Cars start around $500 so whatever I get will be much cheaper than my selling price for Scarlett.

No big shock here: I went to see Harry Potter in German as one of the last things I did on the Sunday I left Deutschland. I know more German that I thought, but it helps that I knew what was supposed to be happening.

There was a moderate earthquake on my first day here. It was noticeable enough that computer screens moved, but I'm told that's normal. It's fun (as long as nothing gets destroyed). My coworkers are cool. There might be a lot of work, but at least it won't be as painful as DRM-G. I spent 10 days without internet. There was nothing in my hotel room and I still don't have a login at work. That means I wandered around in 90 degree heat (massive humidity) getting used to my new digs. I got an apartment 2 days after I arrived--another dilemma since I didn't have anything other than clothes. It's sooooo tiny, but I'm sure it'll be fine when my things arrive in 3 months. For now it's me and some borrowed furniture and plates. How exciting. I've already been shopping off-post on a couple of occasions and love the cute stores they have in the mall. Everyone says I'll be able to save money. I take that as a challenge not to! The food is fabulous and I'm already decent at chopsticks. I didn't make a fool of myself, even on my first try at the sushi bar.

The bad part: there's a bar (they call it a club though I'm not sure I'd agree) on post that's a 5 minute walk from my place. I went there on Friday with a new friend/coworker. She's going to get me into a lot of trouble. "Just one more drink" got us both completely trashed. This isn't the kind of club to scope out hotties, so we basically spent several hours making fun of people when we didn't slip away to play penny slots. Good times.

The best part was having to wake up at 7 the next morning to go to a car auction with a friend. She couldn't tell that I had been drinking the night before. Another plus, though it shows that I really hadn't been drinking enough. :) There was a festival on post later that night so I didn't really get any down time. The Bon Odori is huge. They open the post to let all the Japanese come to it. I've learned that anything with fireworks will attract the local population. We ate and walked around for awhile, but watched the fireworks from home. Who wants to sit in the heat for fireworks when they have them all the time?

Random fact of the day: Japan's DUI limit is .03. If a driver is pulled over for a DUI, everyone in the car gets arrested. I guess I should be glad I'm close to a bar... I'll be scared to sniff a beer or let anyone else sniff a beer before getting into a car.

I think that about sums it up for now. I'm not much of a talker...