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Well first I will begin with Thanksgiving.. it was quite interesting, beginning with the Shinkansen ride there.. keep in mind that this train travels at over 200 miles an hour through the Japan countryside. I got there in time to meet Mr. Jim Moynihan, an ND alum that works at the Legal Attache in the Tokyo American Embassy.. very funny guy. FBI. Pictures of him and important people. Also has a law degree. Bingo bango bongo, er! He showed us around, and took us to an Irish Pub (in Tokyo!) which would soon serve as the location for the Notre Dame-Japan Alumni Club party. It was quite cool..we got to meet(and share a drink with) the Irish Ambassador to Japan! This funded our night until the cash ran out and we decided to head to somewhere more active..so around 12:30am on Friday night/Saturday morning we agree to meet some people to go dancing. (If you have ever been to a dance with me, you know this situation quite well.) The ND guys and Jim's wife go with us to meet these people. Soon, we found ourselves in a darkened club with overly loud music, dancing like there was no tomorrow. Some of us(I was quite alright, but I won't mention anyone else's name) wished that there hadn't been a tomorrow. We left the club around 3:30am and went home. We soon crashed and had a nice sleeping in.. except for three guys who were awakened by the sound of a looming FBI agent demanding money. Paul quickly pacified him and they were off to the land of the sugar plum Japanese people. (Some inside jokes here) That Saturday we walked around Tokyo, checking out the city. A huge city, by the way. As Jim Foster put it, "like New York, without the violence." (He's another ND alum that was letting us stay at his home.) He is right.. very safe, very big. A concrete jungle. (Read Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" for another metaphor of a city being a jungle.) Anyway, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Turkey(yes!!!) and the works. Afterward, instead of another night out, we stayed in, hung out and listened to Irish music until the wee hours of the mornin'. After a few hours of sleep for most of us, we got up and watched Notre Dame beat the tar out of USC in a great game which clenched our bid for a BCS bowl(FIESTA!!!!) Then Alex and Chris and I went home via Shinkansen again.. throughout the weekend, I read Michael Crichton's "Timeline," which was quite good. If you get a weekend, read it. (Smiling very cheesily and giving a Thumbs Up! sign) School is quite boring, but quite busy. I play a lot of guitar during my rare breaks..wrote a few songs.. Also, my host father recently entered the hospital. When I asked why, my host mom replied, "it is his kensa.." I stared at her.. Cancer? No, Kensa.. Cancer? Kensa? What?! My worried look must have tipped her off. She went to the dictionary.. meanwhile, I was thinking.. "Man, what's with me and host fathers?!" She comes back, and points at the book.. kensa(a japanese word, obviously): an examination, an inquiry, a checkup Oh, I see.. a week long checkup. He is in his late 60s, and that is understandable. Well anyway, the results come back and he has high blood pressure.. and his veins are too narrow, so he is going in to have an operation on them to fix some of the problem. Some time early next year, that is. So since then, our diet has consisted of little salt or sugar.. very little.. in fact, my host mom gives me a special plate of things to eat since I would probably explode if I had to eat another cold, unsoysauced piece of tofu.. And no, unsoysauced is not a word. The other night, I got a package in the mail..it was from Mrs. Joan Murphy at River Valley church, where I regularly attend(when I am not on the other side of the world). It was a care package full of snacks and cards..you see, she is in charge of the kindergarten through 5th grade kids at church and their ministry.. and sometimes I help out by doing skits and stuff.. well they decided to send me a package.. and she must have mentioned that I was a Notre Dame student, because man.. well 19 of the cards had mention of ND in a positive way.. and two or three had negatives.. like "ND STINKS!" from a six year old. And one that had a big ND on the front, but when you open it up, it says, "I dont really like ND. I like IU." Hmm.. they get 'em young I see. Well, this weekend I will be working like a banshee to get a 7 page paper out, to rewrite and memorize a 3 minute speech, and to get some rest. I have been a little sick lately.. And I can't wait to come home! See some of you in two weeks!!!!!! Must go, but Peace! and Bingo Bango Bongo! Chas Previous Post Next Post Top of the Page Back to Main