Sorry I have not written in a few days but we are having lots of computer problems over here. For one, I dont have internet at my house. Now, in my new office, I don't even have computer access. They told me a while ago that they were getting a new laptop, so maybe they are waiting for it to arrive before they get internet access. As for Cristina's computer, it completely crashed. It wont even turn on now, so we have to see what we are going to do about that one. I could give her my computer but that would mean sacrificing all sort of entertainment available at my house (media wise). She still needs to ask a few people what she should do and if they can try fixing it... so let's see...keep your fingers crossed.

As for this weekend, it was tons of fun. On Saturday morning, we were picked up and taken to this house in Aira, the town west of Kaz's. We had to practice being guests in a tea ceremony that will be held in front of the town this Wednesday, Culture Day. It was really neat because we went to this older Japanese lady's house that had an annex built specifically for sado (tea ceremony). You had to clean your hands in a water garden outside and everything -- very traditional. It was very enjoyable except that since it was practice, they kept on interrupting the ceremony with things we should know. Ordinarily, this would not annoy me except I was in seiza position which is the traditional Japanese position with your feet tucked underneath your arse. So, the 10 minute ceremony was closer to 45 minutes. Then, we had a 5 minute break before doing it again.

After tea ceremony, we drove down to Nejime for the party before the dragon boat races. We met for the first time lots of 2nd and 3rd year ALTs. Cristina got a mystery rash which she has not stopped talking about since even though it is rarely visible. We covered the Nejime ALT's floor with bedding and ALTs when it came time to sleep. It was crazy getting up in the morning and seeing people everywhere from the kitchen to the bathroom. We were lucky and ended up in the tatami living room floor.

The next morning we got up early. We were in the first heat of boat races. The boats were long and painted like drago scales with a head and tail attached to each end. Because of some last minute miscommunication, I did not get to row in a boat, but I look forward to next year. There were 10 people in each boat. Eight people rowed, one person drummed, and one person steered. No ALT boats qualified for the next round except for the Miyazaki JETs all women's team. Cristina's team was 7th out of 8. She said that it was tons of fun.