"If it can be broke, than it can be fixed..."

On this 10-month excursion, I discover who I really am more and more each day. Nothing extraordinary has happened; no epiphanies have occurred, yet I keep finding out what makes me tick. A scary but welcome change due, in part, to the change of scenery.

One issue I've realized that's been on my heart has been regret. Regret seems to be a big focus in my life. I still regret what I said to my mom before she passed away, and not spending enough times with my family and friends before the trip. And today was no different. I think I may have made a hasty and stupid decision concerning a good friend back in America. I told myself it was for the best, even though, I didn't necessarily believe it. But alas, I need to face what I did, deal with, and grow from it. It'll be hard, but what's life without a little struggle.

I've been told before, that I'm a torn person; a walking contradiction but I never really realized it until today. Moving on..

This past week here, excluding inner torment, has been quite enjoyable.

Last Wednesday brought tidings of tacos. After spending a nice bit of change on the preparation, our Mexican feast went down without a hitch. Enlisting help from our Chinese friends, Sean and I prepared delicious tacos not unlike the ones back home with all the fixins'. I was actually surprised that they turned out like they did, and everyone who came to the fiesta enjoyed the tacos. After the taco party, we went to ESS (English Speaking Society), which is a club where, well, the Japanese sit around and practice English. An odd choice for an extracurricular activity, but we've met some cool people there. While we were there we invited some people to go out on Friday to a local restaurant.

Thursday, we joined the majority of Japan and did our first Japanese thing, bought a keitai (Cell phone). We went to au, one of Japanese big three phone companies, and after two hours of sitting down filling out our applications, picking our plans and phones, we left. Our phones all turned out to be free, and were delivered the next day. I'll be the first to admit that Japanese phones kick America's ass. My cell is a white phone with a flip around screen (I'll post pics later). I can watch tv, e-mail, listen to music, shop online, use gps, scan barcodes, and send information through a handy little infrared sensor. Thankfully, I got a phone that is bilingual. Hooray for me!

When Friday rolled around we were pretty stoked. Not only did we get our cell phones, but later friday night was our first big outing with some of our Japanese friends. Weekends have gradually been getting better and we were finally glad to experience some of the night life especially since I'm legal over here. Quite of few of the ESS people, some of our international friends, and many others showed up for a couple hours to eat, drink, and relax. It was a blast. Afterwards, most of the group went to a karaoke bar which was a hoot. We all cracked up when Sean tried to rap and what not. And I must say, I gave a smashing rendition of "We will rock you" by Queen.

Check back for updates and a few pics...

Matane.