Iaido、 Kaiten Sushi、and Misokatsu (and my horrifying チャーハン/Risotto story）

Hello there, my loverly digital darlings. Ready for a story? Are you sitting comfortably? (allusion count: III (Incidental Children - Tim Harmon, Professor Falken - War Games, & Are You Sitting Comfortably - The Moody Blues)) That said, please turn to page 3. So, lots of stuff has happened since my last full length entry, and I refuse to talk about all of it. But I will try to recall all of the interesting stuff. Soon after arrival, I went with the Friends Circle (a club that is devoted, as far as i can see, to making life better for ryuugakusei (this is the last time i'll translate this word: Exchange student)) to (parentheses make sentences hard to read, ennit?) the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium: 名古屋港水族館。　It was ok, and the dolphin and orca shows were good, and I met my friend Shota san there, but not amazing. Very crowded. ................................................ Shota

After that, classes started. Lots of homework, hard work blahblahblah... Then, i went with the ICC club to the zoo 動物園。 I had a good time (better that aquarium) and tried sweet potato icecream for the first time, and went up to the observation tower, but i didn't see as many animals as i wanted to see... Afterwards, a girl Tomoe invited us to go to Shooter's Bar with her and her English teacher (i think she wanted some native speakers to help with conversation) That was pretty awesome, but a bit pricey. I had Thai curry. mmmm. With Ebi (prawn dirigible)! (the characters "prawn Dirigible)!" would be a good name for a post-modern band, eh? (damn, i am turning japanese with all the "neh?"'s (Turning Japanese, lol))) The english teacher was a trip. A hilarious oldish guy from the states who seemed to want to speak of only amazing sports figures from the past. I brought up Larry Bird, but didn't have much after that. He didn't need me to say much more than "uh huh" to keep him goin' though. I think he missed the english (Eigo, not Igirisu) ear. It must get lonely sometimes teaching here for so long. Anyway, i was there with him, Tomoe, two of my Canadian friends Yves and Felix, and Sarah. In the middle of the evening, she made a comment about some japanese guys to our right, and in reply, the teacher got her to stand up and moved her chair to their table! She sat down with complete strangers and started hanging out. I was impressed by how cool the teacher had acted, and how well she got to talking to them.
Anyway, that was about it. See... what else happened? The band club told me that they basically don't have an instrument for me, so, i don't know if i will be able to play this year. Zannendeshitanee? Oh, i signed up to go to Toyota City, which, surprise surprise, is home to a major Toyota Co. hq. The tour of the factory was a waste of time, but then they took us to a kind of museum expo showroom in the office skyscraper. They had all kinds of neato stuff like a mechanical "chair" with robot legs (the new wheelchair; it climbs stairs and makes julian fries! (ok the fries thing was a joke, but not the stairs)) and a little one man "car/chair with wheels" that will go on the highway, as soon as they have computer guidance and traffic control (i.e. autopilot) for everyone, and this was quite startling, was a robot that played the trumpet!!! No kidding! and it was good! like, not dizzy gillespie, but not mary had a little lamb either! i have a movie, and maybe i can post it on photobucket or somthin. It had a feather in its hat. Kinda threatening, but not really. Now, if they could get it to march... (they probably already have).
I am eathing chocolate rice puff cereal and listeninig to Revolution #9 by the Beatles (from the White Album) now. FYI.
I missed my first two Sundays, (the first was maybe my second or third day in japan, and the second was the Aquarium) so i made plans to go to church. I talked to a lady who works in the OISE (intnat'l student experience) and she gave me a map, and i asked RA Chie, and she gave me directions to Nanzan U. I arrived at Nanzan U. just perfectly, thanks to Chie, but, unfortunately, Nanzan church is not on the campus of Nanzan U. No problems, one helpful rent-a-cop at the gate and a ten minute walk later, i arrived. Very interesting. I understood maybe 4%, but interesting nonetheless. I didn't think anyone would be going to communion, so i jumped ahead of a gentleman next to me, (gaijin baka!) but i appologized afterwards, so all ok. Almost everyone in the church took communion! I have some trouble believing that they were all Catholic, but what do i know??? Precious little, Rene; precious little. (chotto jodan, only i (maybe Dr. Colter if he had a good memory) would understand). They had like 4 priests celebrating (two weeks in a row now); another surprise. I met some boy scouts (who are EVERYWHERE in Nagoya) after my second mass, and talked to them. Of course (see following note about lust for membership) once i told them i was a scout too, they were keen for me to join and help them out. Shota san is a Scout, by the way. Maybe i can join his troop. That would be friggin sweet.
Then, at lunch one day, my friend Kenji san asked me to come to Iaido club with him, and since i had not done much with him recently, i went, planning just to watch him for a while. Foolishly underestimating the Japanese lust for increasing their club membership. Upon arrival, i was dressed in formal garb, given a Katana, and lead into the practice hall. No shoes mind you. (I can't wear them in my dorm either.) I suck at Iaido. Nevertheless, i like it. You know that really smooth resheathing movement they show on the silver screen (I am thinking Samurai Jack here)? Yeah, that's really hard. Pretty much like everything else in Iaido. It is like tea ceremony with swords. So friggin intricate. I know (kinda) Juntosonoichi and Juntosononi now! Afterwards, Felix and I went to a Kaiten Sushi place about 15 minutes south of my home. For those of you who aren't familiar, Kaiten is a japanese word for rotate. The restaurant was invaded by a giant conveyor belt snake that weaved back and forth through the wall, bearing delicious plates of sushi upon its back. Complimentary powdered tea!! At this particular place, the plates were each worth 100yen (little less than a dollar). Wundebar. Easy to let your eyes get bigger than your wallet... (i concentrate on the food and setup, but just so you know, Felix is an awesome person, and we talked about tons of interesting topics.)
Two days later, after a email exchange of multitudinous correspondences, I was taken by Shota to a nice Misokatsu restaurant (in his sweet ride). It was great! Now i actually have at least one real Japanese friend! (i think.) Yay! We had a good time, plenty of laughs. Both this and the sushi joint were a tad hard on the old saifu, but definitely worth it. Katsu are delicious by the way. Especially in miso sauce.
I think i have said Arigatou Gozaimasu about a thousand times at this point. Maybe the most common phrase in japanese to issue from my guchi.
And finally, we come to my horrible cha-han story. I bought natto (fermented beans) and shirimen (tiny little 1cm fishies eaten whole, eyes and all) from the Aoki Super(market). I know shirimen from jason, but natto was a brave (and stupid) giant leap for domkind. Tons of japanese people love Natto, but i cant seem to get past the snot like slime that strings from the bowl to the chopsticks to your mouth. *shivers* i gave the 2nd and 3rd packets away, but i digress. The wee fishies posed no problem to my appetite, but i had to cook them before they went bad. Kayo (a saint and my new big sister away from home) suggested i make fried rice (cha-han) with them. Because i am a stupid man, and have never learned how to cook, i decided i didnt need to cook my rice before putting it in the frying pan. Fortunately, Kayo was the only person to realize i had two cups of utterly useless toasted rice. Again, Fortune smiled; Kayo even knew a way to use toasted rice! Japanese Risotto. I don't remember the name, but she not only taught me how to make it and covered up my idiocy, but she gave me spinach and seasoning to put in it. O, Kayo, Great Kayo, I sing my praises to Thee! Should you need but the slightest favor or the most profound repayment, I am thy servant. A seriously kind person. So, my fishies finally found a home in mah bellyh. Hopefully, they don't start breeding in there. Can i cross the line here and say Sea Monkeys? Ewwww. Intradom Monkeys.
So, that is about it, up to now. Hope some of you read all the way through to the end. Oh, here is a present for you faithful finishers:
Butter Yellow
Bob Ross Mellow
Prophets Few
and Meanies Blue
Gather Round and Face the Facts
The-evil-unscrupulous-corporate-system-keeping-the-spirit-a-servant-of-the-machine (a la "The Man") can kiss my a**.