watashi wa ANDREW san

Saturday, October 8, 2005'

last night after not doing anything except downloading music and freaking out b/c my computer went all contrasty and it started talking to me, i was kind of excited about the first day of japanese class! i actually wanted to go out for a run this morning, but it started raining like a mother so i didn't and just went back to sleep. anyways, so i got ready to go to class.

we got to the kyoto station, which is this huge ass structure with a mall, department store (which has like 10 floors and a basement floor with restaurants) and all of this other crap, and in true andrew fashion what else happens, you guessed it! I GOT LOST! if you've ever been lost with me, you'll either get the andrew that just kinda follows and is just like whatever, or you'll get the andrew that's an ASSHOLE! guess who showed up today? yup, i said fuck the "kindness tour: japan" and saw just trying to get to class. i was cutting off little japanese kids, grandmas and grandpas and anyone else in my way. if i haven't mentioned it before being in the major subway stations over here is kinda like being in the new york subway stations but instead of a whole bunch of different people that look kinda shady, it was just a bunch of japanese people who are pretty nice. public transportation is so nice here! anyways, so i was being an asshole, but we found our way.

we were about 5-10 minutes late, but it was cool. we caught the class just going through simple conversation.

A: konichiwa. (hello!)
B: konichiwa.
A: hajime mashite. (HA-G-ME MASH-TE) (nice to meet you)
B: watashi wa (fill in your name)san.

it was totally fun. i'm not saying that i'm going to be totally fluent by the time i get back, but i think i'll be able to have filler conversation with people. plus the teacher is cool. she doesn't really speak english but it's good that way b/c then we have to respond to her in japanese.

anyways, after that we headed to shijo street (4th street), which i've been to the past couple of days and went to go eat shabu shabu. it's where you dip meat and vegetables in to a broth or water and then dip it into sauce. it was sooo GOOD!! i took a picture, but it got erased. sucks. i'll try to take more pictures of food while i'm here. i am feening for some filipino food, but i guess i'll get then when i get back. i'll be back on a sunday so hopfully my dad will have made some eggs (sunnyside up of course!), corned beef, bacon, or even better, SPAM! or if they had kfc the night before, he'll have shredded it and put that thai sauce and tried it up. dude, it's so good. don't knock it if you haven't tried it. come over and maybe you can have some!!

well that's all that happened today. we'll see if i'll go for a run around the university tomorrrow....

wait one more thing. let me ask you guys something. let's say you're in a communal living situation where there are shared facilities like the bathrooms, showers, kitchen, etc. and you're doing your laundry. you're washing is done, and all you need to do is dry but there is someone's laundry in the dryer, and it's totally done. do you:

A) take it out and leave it on top of the washing machine
B) take it out, put it in a bag and leave it inside the house
C) wait until the person who is using the drying gets back and then put your stuff in there
D) sit around and pace b/c you're so indecisive

you have to think to yourself, is this going to be an invasion of privacy if i take out their laundry and see their underwear, or do you just do it really quick so you don't see it? difficult decisions. if you guys know me, you know which one i did. anyways after i did one of the above, i was leaving the little crack where our laundry is and i noticed that i had stepped on someones THONG!! it was all muddy like someone had diahreahed all in it. had i dropped it while i was transitioning the clothes into a bag, or had it been there all the time? PANIC!! time to think quick. well needless to say, i picked it up (b/c obviously i had stepped on it and it was mud, not diahreah) and threw it behind the washing machine. screamed like a bitch and ran back inside. so if you're ever at the dohokan at kyoto--seika university and are in need of a thong, you know where to find one. you might want to wash it first though...

(answer: B, come on, i'm a nice guy, remember!)