Thank You Patrick, Welcome Jessica!

This past weekend was without a doubt a little out of control. Aside from STILL trying to settle in, the week of welcome/sayonara parties has begun and to dispel any previous assumptions, Japan (rather, Takko...) knows how to party.

Friday night was the Welcome/Sayonara party for Patrick and me. It was very formal and it was my first time giving a speech entirely in Japanese. I'm beginning to gain some sort of reputation here, however, because out of the handful of speeches given that night, more than a couple of them mentioned my love for karaoke. It was mentioned AGAIN today during my formal introduction to the yakuba staff that I am a karaoke champion and will challenge anyone (well, that's how I understood it...). After the formalities, however, we quickly moved the after party to Zero (if any of you have had long conversations with me about Takko, you know EXACTLY what place I'm talking about). Beers, whiskey and a few (or several) songs later, the night was finally complete. I *enjoyed* my first hangover in Japan the next morning... >_<

BUT the weekend didn't stop there. Despite what you may think, Takko is ALL about celebrating America's Independence Day...okay, so maybe they're into it because Patrick started throwing a 4th of July party two years ago and it kind of stuck, but hey! They really enjoyed it. We had American BBQ with beer, games and fireworks (we all know how much I love fireworks) AND a couple of Americans stopped by to help set the spirit....well, they were ALT's (Assistant Language Teachers) from the JET program in nearby cities, but it was really nice to joke around with people who spoke English. And so again, we found ourselves at Zero at the end of the night for the after party. And then AGAIN, I enjoyed my second hangover ever in Japan.

I've come to realize that out of the many things I will probably miss from America, Denny's will come in somewhere in the top 5. I want my Grand Slam breakfast! I'm thinking I'll have to find a worthy substitute in the meantime but greasy cheeseburgers are hard to come by in Takko.

On the ACTUAL 4th of July, we thought that gray skies and impending rain would make for a great beach day. Tanizashi Beach is located on the coast near Hachinohe, which is about an hour drive away from Takko. The drive to the beach reminded me very much of our own Santa Cruz Mountains and the actual beach is very similar to our coastline in Northern California. I do not know WHAT I was thinking, but I should have brought a sweater. A blanket to sit on would have been nice too. After attempting to fly a couple of kites that we found in the closet of the apartment, the light sprinkling alerted us to the fact that this day was not meant to be a beach day (today, however, is beautiful out).

We brought our activities indoors and had lunch and a movie at Jusco mall in Shimoda. Lunch = Italian buffet. Movie = Iron Man 2. First of all, I learned quickly that movies in Japan are ridiculously over-priced: ¥1,700 for one ticket (works out to be about $17). BUT you get to reserve your seat; that's what the extra $7 is for, I'm sure. And another thing...movies come out later in Japan than they do in the US AND they advertise them differently. For example: that "new" movie with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz (Knight and something or other) is advertised way differently here than it is in the US. I didn't see it at home, but I do not recall the movie being portrayed in the way that it was.

So what this past weekend has proved to me is that:

a) Japanese people DO know how to have a good time.

b) I need to stand by the age-old hangover remedy of eating greasy food and drinking lots of water before bed.

and

c) I'm really going to miss the American sarcasm. People, feel free to talk to me and be as sarcastic as humanly possible. I'll be craving it!

For tonight, the intramural volleyball team will be throwing Patrick a sayonara party and (apparently) will be officially inviting me to take his spot on the team. I haven't played volleyball since junior high, so we'll see how that goes. Tomorrow is a "business trip" to Aomori City with some yakuba staff. How/when do we ever get work done around here? ;)

Mata ne!