Living up here in Saitama means you leave home in the morning and don't come back until you're good and ready to wrap up the day. So if you're wondering why I haven't posted anything in a while, that's why. I'm not home very much, and when I am, I'm tired or busy.

That said, here's the lowdown:

Training is half over. I've learned pretty much everything there is to know about teaching adults, and tomorrow I start training for a series of classes called "Kids' English World." I'm not really looking forward to being an English-speaking clown, but what can you do. It's a living.

These last couple nights have constituted my first official weekend, after having a full week to get my bearings and recover from jet lag. This was a special weekend because Monday was Umi no Hi, a Japanese national holiday that loosely translates to Sea Day, Ocean Day, or the less awkward Marine Day. After work on Saturday (yes, I work Saturdays), I rushed home to change my clothes and get ready to "celebrate the ocean."

I met Danika from Skidmore and her new Japan friends in Yokohama Chinatown, and we took in all the noisy, hilarious, and crowded sights before heading toward Yamashita Park at dusk for a fireworks show. Well, in true Japan fashion, the entire city had the same idea, and the park was full to capacity and then some. So we wandered around, trying to find a good viewing spot by jumping barriers and circumnavigating little clumps of agitated policemen. But everywhere we went, we were confronted by a new sea of Japanese people in festive Japan-wear, and I started to get nervous about the prospect of getting out alive.
Luckily, the fireworks show was right near a train station. Unluckily, said station has only one train line, and is at the last stop of said train line. I did the math in my head, panicked, and left about a third of the way through the event, leaving behind my lovely standing-room-only, obstructed-view spot in a corner of a cement park.

Japan, why must you take pictures of everything with your cell phone? WATCH THE DAMN FIREWORKS AND PUT IT AWAY.

The next item on the agenda was to attend an overnight party at my friend Johan's house, in a beach town called Kugenuma Kaigan. When I saw Johan, Tom, Dino, and Aki for the first time in over a year, old memories of debauchery flooded back to me, to be replaced by new ones over the course of the night and into the next day.

Lessons Learned:
*Walking into a 7-11 at 3:30 am with shoes made of sand and no pants will earn you disapproving looks from everyone in the store.
*Before using empty fireworks shells as fuel for a fire, make sure they are all empty.
*Be wary of any snacks with dried fish as their main ingredient.
*And yes, you do have to clean that up.