And the fun continues. . .

So. . .where to begin?

Well, last Wednesday I went to a karate class with my Okaasan's English teacher, Mary. It was a small local dojo. I got to watch some of the kids practice and even got to learn a few kick moves. It was pretty fun and I think Mary is going to take be back another time.

This Friday and Monday I do not have school because they are both school holidays. So with nothing to do on Friday, I went to 三井，Mitsui, a nearby outlet shopping mall. I went with my friends Mal and Euna and my Japanese friends Daiki, Yatsu, and Yukina. We had a lot of fun wondering the mall, going in stores, and trying random things on. We also went to a Cold Stone in the mall. They still sing even in Japan, but the people seem a lot happier. I guess in America the people usually only sing when they get tipped, but in Japan you don't normally tip so the workers just sang all the time.

We were probably at the mall for about six hours. We just had a lot of fun together.

(Yukina, Euna, Mal)                                                         (Daiki, Me, Yatsu)

Friday night I went out to Karaoke. . .again. I guess one things you have to get used to in Japan is that Japanese people love karaoke. It is a lot of fun.

On Saturday I went to the Daigakusai, school festival. I saw some friends participate in a cheer dance and a fashion show. I also got to watch a tea ceremony and try to make my own tea. The festival was a lot of fun. Each club gets to set up its own tent or table and they can do different activities or sell things like food. One club ran an origami crane folding table, one made and sold mochi bacon (rice wrapped in bacon and cooked), and one made and sold takoyaki (octopus fried in batter). The clubs basically were free to do what they wanted and ran most of the stuff themselves.

After the festival I went out with a lot of my friends to celebrate my friend Tiena's birthday. We went to the same restaurant we went to for the welcome part a few weeks ago, Potato Circus, a yakiniku. A Yakiniku is a restaurant where you can cook your own meat and vegetables on a mini grill. It's basically like a do it yourself Japanese steakhouse. I had a lot of fun there hanging out with some Americna and Japanese friends and learning a lot of new Japanese sayings. For example: sho shu riki  toile dai suki. I am not completely sure what this means, but the second half means love the toilet. My friend says it is the most popular phrase in Japan because it rhymes and is funny. I also learned the Japanese word for shut up. Me and my friend Mal were trying to say it to each other, but we both couldn't say it correctly. Basically we just had a lot of fun the whole night.

Sunday was my relaxing day. I didn't really do anything, it was raining. So I mostly stayed inside and did homework.

Tomorrow I am going to Odori station, a big subway station, with Mal, Daiki, and some of Daiki's friends. Daiki has become my designated tour guide. He is now in charge of showing me the best places to go in Sapporo. He has done a great job so far.

That's all for today!

Stephen