I had to wait to get film processed in order to make this post. I left my camera at school this weekend by accident. I had a very full weekend and it doesn’t seem to be letting up just yet. I started off last Friday night with an outing with friends to our favourite diner called Royal Host. We came back to my place around 11 and my friend Rachael brought her kitten over. It is extremely rambunctious! It is white with two different coloured eyes. It has long soft fur and I held it for a long time. I it picked up and squeezed it and it made me miss my cats so much! The next day I got myself organized and headed off to Nagano City for an international night. I went to visit my homestay family there as well. They wanted to dress a bunch of foreign girls in Kimonos and asked if I would go. I got the cherry blossom kimono with long sleeves. Long sleeves mean that you are single. They tied every obi differently which it the band around the waist. It was really tight so you couldn’t really sit down. They don’t fit the western body so well or maybe just my western body! They did our hair and makeup but I didn’t want to do the whole nine yards with the white face paint and everything because I was going out that night. It takes three people to dress one person. They also did a bride and groom too which was really cool. The bride’s kimono was huge, it had four layers. They dressed up two little Japanese girls as well. They sat so still for the whole thing and didn’t complain at all while they put on all the makeup and did their hair. It took a long time for them too. Then we went into this fashion show with our kimonos which many other nationalities of special dress. After that there was a really great African drumming group and a street dancing group. At the end we all danced together to the drumming with the street dancers. Hip hop style dance is very popular here. You will see boys practicing their dance moves in the station or in an open space all the time.
After that we headed back down to Matsumoto by train to go to a night club called Sonic for their Christmas party. It was free tequila shot night so needless to say, good times insued. We danced for almost 6 hours and then went back to Shiojiri. My homestay sister Eri came back with us. She is really sweet. I really like her but don’t get to see her very much as she goes to university in Tokyo. I think her mom was a little nervous to let her go home with me but after much reassuring that I would look after her she was allowed to go with us. We got home around 5 in the morning and she stayed up and caught the first train back. I got up about 5 hours later and went out with a friend and his Japanese co-worker for a little Christmas shopping and a lunch out at the Skylark. Then we came back to my place to listen to tunes and enjoy some red wine. I walked my friend back to the station so I could pick up my bike but unfortunately it wasn’t there. I am off to buy a new bike tonight because they haven’t decided at the board office if I can drive to work yet. It is a little ridiculous because it takes me half an hour to ride to my main school and another half hour to the next school. It is snowing and cold now so I am playing up the safety factor so they will say yes as soon as possible. I sent out all my Christmas stuff tonight so I hope it arrives before Christmas. Thank you all for your cards and gifts! It is so nice to hear from you all! Granddad, I hope you are feeling better, I am thinking of you.