Sore Throats

On Saturday, I was set to meet Kazuki, who had purchased some Japanese sweets for me while he was in Tokyo (since we had been discussing how we both like sweets earlier). I decided to bring him some American candy in return for the gift. I figured that a simple exchange of candies would not make a useful meeting, so I pressed for another activity. Agreeing to the notion, Kazuki and I went to a local department store to look around. I picked out some items that I thought were interesting before we headed out to look for something to eat. After dinner, we opted to go to Ring, where we did some more karaoke.

This karaoke experience was different from the last in two ways: first, Kazuki is able to sing on key, and second, my voice had a much more raspy quality to it that made singing a little more challenging. Needless to say, by the end of our activity, my voice was set to call it quits. After we left Ring, we parted ways as we each went home.

I spent Sunday talking to various people though email. I was able to set up a transaction for a fairly rare set of Japanese items that shall remain unsaid for gift-giving purposes with someone I met through a Japanese website. It was surprising to me that she offered to pay for the items in advance for me, especially since we had never actually met in person. I will have to advise her to be wary of doing such a thing in the future, as some people may not actually pay her back.

Monday
Today's most interesting event was that my friend Eri came to ask me for help in pronouncing English words. She explained that she had to give a speech to the new Japanese students at Kansai Gaidai in English and she wanted to say everything correctly. After going through the speech I was pleased to tell her that all she had to work on was the 'th' sound and when to use 'r' and 'l'. I think she will just have to wing the word 'program' since she can only say 'proglam' or 'plogram'. After our session, she said now all she had to worry about was her sore throat from the cold she caught.

For dinner, Nabil and I rode down to Makino. By 'rode', I mean that I got on the back part of his bike and held on for dear life as he rode from the school to Makino (about a 30 minute walk). Fortunately, he did not pull any stunts like the last time I rode on the bike and did not speed down any hills while I tried to wish myself to another planet. That did not keep my hindquarters from becoming quite sore from the metal protrusion that I was situated upon. It was a flat surface, but it was a series of metal stripes instead of a plate. I was glad to arrive and depart without a scratch.