Catching up; Dinner with “Mayu” & Friends :)

I’m at work right now, tired after having only a few hours of sleep last night – on the floor, not on the bed.

Yes, I was suppose to get lots of things done (that *really* need to be done), last night. Little did I know, that when Alex entered my room around 9:30pm, that I would be talking for the rest of the night. Initially, Ben, Alex, and I had to talk about our plans to hike Fuji-san on the weekend (no rest for the wicked). We looked at a Hiking-in-Japan book that Ben has (he has lots of really cool books) and a train tome that Alex has trying to figure out where we were going to go, and which route to hike. Unfortunately, I couldn’t provide much to the conversation: I don’t know maps like Ben does, and I don’t know Kanji like Alex. So I mainly listened and attempted some extremely slow searches on an online train planner.

We had something sorta figured out, so Ben left to do his laundry. Alex and I continued talking, but not about the hike. Topics ranged so wildly, and largely consisted of rants. In person, rants are much different. Nearly everything you read on the net will be a “rant,” but a rant on the net is well composed. The author has had time to organize their thoughts, and it’s usually fairly coherent. But having done a few myself last night, I realized I couldn’t just say what was on my mind – I had so many things on my mind that I couldn’t concentrate on one and convey a clear thought. I had to really stop talking, and take time to organize my thoughts. This is okay, because I saw Alex doing the same thing, later. We talked about anything from video games, to religion, to relationships. It’s really funny, and I would not have expected it, but Alex and I have a lot in common.

Eventually, we said good-night a little after 4am. I was afraid to go to sleep, fearing I might not wake for work. I went to the bathroom, and saw at least one person also walking in the hallway on my way – this is Japan, after all. I came back to my room and read my email, and then I must have laid down on the floor….

Had it not been for my life-saving cell-phone which was nestled in its charger, I may not have waken up. But I had cleverly set the alarm on that awesome cell phone of mine to go off every day at 7:45am. Usually, I wake up by the Wal-Mart alarm clock I brought from Canada, but I must set that every night. Maybe I won’t bother, anymore – my ketai works great! I can wake up to melodies of sorts rather than that irritating beep. Much better. Amazingly, I managed to have a shower and still be on time for work. God, did I need a shower!

So, I just finished reading Ben’s monolithic journal entry about his crazy adventure around Japan during Obon the holiday. Yes, I’m at work, but I was alternating between technical documentation. I actually relied on Ben’s writing to keep me awake, so I can justify it. After reading it, I’ve decided I may go back and try to add a few details from my Obon holiday – which I completely glazed over.

I have to wait for a computer to arrive before I can “work on my project,” but I can always read… it’s just so boring. So my day today is not so interesting. Can’t wait for lunch.

10:20pm – Just got back from dinner with Ben and 3 Japanese Girls: Yukko, Mami, Mayu

And a good time was had by all…

The girls took us to an Okonomiyaki restaurant in South Ogaki. They even picked us up! 😮 Ben knows an uncanny amount of information about food! And maps. But, I guess he enjoys both of those things, so that’s ok. I love food, too… but Ben is not satisfied til he knows all the details of how a certain dish was prepared and exactly where the ingredients came from! However, this kind of info is great for ice-breaking, because it’s really quite interesting. As such, during dinner, we talked mostly of food. We also talked about Vancouver and Canada because all of the girls had been there.

I have been wondering where the closest swimming pool was almost since I got here, and Ben remembered I wanted to know that, so he asked the girls. After dinner, they looked at map books in their car (I could see Ben was getting excited – maps!) and they made a couple calls, and they decided to drive us there. It didn’t take long for us to appear completely lost in the deep dark inaka (countryside). That’s okay, we soon found it, and it turns out it’s really easy to bike to. It’s about twice the distance as the Hashima train station we usually bike to, however, so it’s a little far.

That was a nice casual night. Didn’t cost much (1200yen), and it was refreshing. Thanks to the three ladies for taking us out!

I’m tired… and must do things BEFORE I sleep. *sigh*

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