Was the earth moving for anybody else this morning???

Kaoru woke me at about 5.30.  Looking up, I could see the cord for the light swaying back and forth (which was obviously just hanging there, and it was *us* moving!).  There was no sound, and I couldn’t feel anything, but the earthquake was enough to wake Kaoru.  It’s an interesting reality when you experience it, but it’s treated as a common, every day event.  I don’t remember if it stopped before or after I fell back asleep – it seemed to go on for a while, but that early in the morning, who knows???

After a bit more sleep I got up, and Kaoru and I caught the train to Kachidoke.  Dai-san met us there in his car, and we took Datascore down.  It is mind blowing how little these people know about how to make money in indoor sports – and even more so, that they don’t want our help to do it!  Aah, the Japanese culture.  I don’t think I’ll ever really get it.

Travelling on the train, walking around the stations, in shops – it’s a totally different experience now.  I’m looking for all the Japanese writing I can (and there’s plenty of it!) and trying to read it.  As I only know 35 of over 1000 characters, I don’t know much, but I try to sound out what I can and Kaoru helps with it.  The biggest part is seeing the differences a font makes.  For example, my “training aid” may show 2 distinct lines, but depending on the font, there may be one continuous one.  For example, imagine drawing the letter X without taking your pen off the paper.  You would draw from the top left to bottom right, to bottom left, to top right (so a solid line at the bottom).  This would be read the same as the X as we know it.  So recognising them both as the same character is quite a challenge, but I’m getting there.  Understanding how they are drawn (with the pen) helps utilise your imagination, and I think I certainly have an advantage over others learning in Australia and only getting contact time while at their course and studying with others.

Dai-san, Kaoru and I had a drink after removing things, and then Kaoru and I caught the train back to Fugisawa, and Dai-san went home.  We had lunch at Subway.  I think it was the worst meal I’ve had in Japan!  It’s certainly not something they do well!  Maybe I picked the wrong one (Duck Pastrami and Orange Sauce), but the bread wasn’t anything great either.  Think I’ll stick with noodles and other Japanese food!

Kaoru went to work, and I came home (via the shops) to do some work, and post about a week’s worth of blog entries to keep you all happy!

We went out to dinner, at a nice restaurant we went to last time I was here.  Kaoru was really hungry (as was I!), so we ate quite a lot.  After a couple of courses, a whole fish came out!  Our final course was some sushi (naturally).  We then went to Mister Donut for dessert – it was 100 yen donut day today, so we picked up a few for tonite and tomorrow morning tea.

A bit more studying and work, and it was time to call it a night.