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Hey it's great to be back, and with things in my life smoothed out quite a bit, I
feel a great weight lifted..I am settling into the dorm quite nicely.. I enjoy the
whole having-a-room-to-myself thing.. the only thing I am not sure about yet is
having to cook for myself. I enjoy cooking, really I do! But since I wrote the last
update, I have been out to eat quite a bit.. Notre Dame sent a representative to
observe the program here, and we got to meet her. She even took us out to dinner at
a shabu-shabu restaurant. It was a lot of fun. And she reads this webpage, so she's
really really cool.
Lately there has been some crazy cold/allergy problems, and I am no exception. Aside
from constant sneezing(and some insomnia lately) I have been pretty mild.
Unfortunately, a few friends are coming down with worse. Meghan has missed a coupla
days of school, and is still out. I finished up an English teaching job finally. I
enjoy teaching(though it's difficult teaching another language to a 4 year old!)
but I just don't have time for it.
I did find time to read Michael Crichton's "A Case of Need" and start into Stephen
King's "Insomnia." I find this last one infuriating because I am having my own
troubles sleeping. Whether or not the book is causing some kind of psychosomatic
reaction or not, I cannot say. But I am planning a relaxing weekend of lounging
around, practicing my cooking, and sleeping. Maybe this will help.
Tonight I plan to make Burnt Butter Noodles, a favorite dish of mine. Some Angel
Hair Pasta(I have to use spaghetti) with a sauce of butter and parmesan. I also add
some parsley or other spices for color and zest. By the way, to the person who
taught me how to make that: thank you so much!
I wanted to make myself a nice steak and baked potato, but I found only one steak
in the supermarket and it was $40. So I figured I would wait the extra month and
just have it at home, where I know it will be done up just right and have the
potatoes nice and hot. Japan is lacking in two things: grills and ovens. They rarely
use either. In fact, my former host family didn't know what I meant by grill.
Well, I must get going now. Have a wonderful Easter, and a wonderful weekend. I will
be listening to Jesus Christ Superstar, the best rock-opera ever, and my favorite
all-together piece of music. It's my own little "Chas-K" every Easter.
Say hello to the Easter Bunny for me. They certainly don't have a big rabbit suit
in the mall here. Come to think of it, they don't even have malls.
Chas