happy birthday to meeeee

Ah, 21 years old, can you believe it? So frickin old. My friends here threw me a great bash on Sunday night, complete with tabehodai-nomihodai sukiyaki (all you can eat, all you can drink) and all-out clubbin at the Shibs Gas Panic. We got SO LOUD during dinner (come on, they seated the 7 Americans RIGHT in the middle of the restaurant, it was just too easy) and very nearly got kicked out (or maybe we did get kicked out?), but not before consuming so many little slices of beef and pitchers of beer and sake and Japanese deliciousness.... ah, the memory makes me smile.

Thank you to everyone who sent cards and presents, I received so many on the actual day of my birthday, the mailman must have KNOWN or something. Hmm. But then he is still hiding the package from my mom, so I don't know.

Either way, things are winding down positively over here. At least, that one day was loads o' fun. Today we had another earthquake (how many is that now? too many to even count), except this time it was during class, and I was astounded to discover that in a country as earthquake-riddled as this one, they don't teach kids ANYthing about how to survive an earthquake. We've had no fire drills since I've been here, and the concept of hiding under a desk or doorway when the floor starts to sway (to the sound of Gary Crossman's whistle, of course!) is relatively unknown. Moreover, our teacher actually told us to stand NEAR the windows if there's an earthquake. Come on, people! No wonder shinkansens derail over here... Just kidding, it's actually pretty spiffy how earthquake-proof the buildings are here.