More pictures

Pics: http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095571&l=12f34&id=59501063


I got a cell phone. It's awesome and small. I'm going to be climbing Mt. Fuji tomorrow. I wrote a little story about a soy bean under one of my pictures. I got to know some of my teachers better today. My apartment is still hot as hell. It's 90 with 100% humidity every day. I talked about tsunamis with my kyoto-sensei today. We also talked about the tokai earthquake that is supposed to happen here in Japan every 150 years. It's been 153 since the last one, so people are expecting the Tokai quake any day. There is a 40% chance it will happen in the next 3 years, a 90% chance it will happen in the next 50 years. Shizuoka Prefecture is right at the epicenter, so when it hits we're pretty much boned. I think they are predicting 100,000 dead? Also, when the Tokai Earthquake happens, there is going to be a Tsunami 3-5 mins. later. I live 1/2 a block from the ocean, so if the quake doesn't bone me the water will. My plan is, as soon as I'm able to get off my butt from falling down during the quake, I'm running for the hills. Kyoto-sensei said he's going to the top of the school building, but i don't know... Running to the top of a building during an earthquake just seems counterintuitive to me. We do have a 10 meter high sea wall about 80 meters from the school building, but Tsunami waves are between 10 and 20 meters high, so we're still going to get hit by a wall of water. Maybe a better plan is to assume the fetal position and get ready to meet my maker.

Well, I have to go someway someday, so dying while living it up in Japan probably isn't at the top of the worst ways to go list. And it might not even happen at all. Or I could be vacationing in Hokkaido when it hits.

Today I spent about 4 or 5 hours studying kanji. I think I can recognize about 150 now and translate that little picture into English. Maybe about 70 of them I can write and maybe 50 of them I can pronounce.

It's now 5:20 and an hour and 5 min. past when my contract says I can leave, so I'm going to go now- going to try and get to the bank before it closes at 6. We're lucky in Kambara. Most banks are only open 9am-3pm M-F so people have to take vacation days from work if they need to get to a bank. Seriously. I even have to take vacation to meet the person who's going to install my internet because they only come between 9 and 5 M-F. But you can only request morning or afternoon; I requested afternoon so I have to be home between 1 and 5. This is all after them needing my gaijin card, so I had to wait 2 weeks for that, then faxing it, then waiting for them to mail me the application form I need to fill out, then mailing it back with a requested day for them to come to my house. And the requested day HAS to be within 17 to 40 business days form when I mail the app. back in. Does that make any sense? It's like Yahoo BB doesn't want my money. And I have to do it on a Friday because I have classes the other 4 days of the week. Humph. Ok, venting over.

I'm going home to more cleaning.