Weekend happenings

With nothing planned and Aaron "bedridden" with the flu (ahem), it seemed like the weekend was going to be a quiet one. However, things have a way of getting randomly silly, don't they?

Friday night actually was kind of quiet. I went to the gym and swam for about an hour and a half. Then Kate and I went to get ramen where I basically undid all the work I had just done at the gym (ah, well) when I got an email from Phil asking if we'd be interested in getting some drinks at The Cottage, a cute little bar in Iwamuro. So, despite the fact that I was in PJs, we went. The three of us sat around and chatted about all kinds of things and enjoyed the completely random selection of music videos this place has.

Saturday I slept in (9:30 - as late as it gets folks) and after hours of phoning people at home and making a homemade cheeseburger (it was so so so amazing), I decided to go workout again (anyone who knows me knows that two days in a row of hitting the gym is no small feat). I got home at 4 feeling pumped - the sun was shining (still cold) and the endorphins were running on high, so I pressured Kayvohn into hustling to make the 5pm train into Niigata with me. We were set to meet Kate, Makiko and Aaron (complete with face mask, haha) for Mexican at a random little place behind Niigata station, so for an hour Kayvohn and I just ambled around the shops in Bandai. I've been worrying a bit about money lately (lots of travel followed by an unknown period of unemployment in Portland) so I tried not to spend. I did end up buying another Haruki Murakami book (seriously love him!) and a random necklace for 400yen, but we all know of my love for gawdy beads...

Anyway, we met up with the fools at the station and Kate managed to find her way back to the restaurant (another not so small feat) where we were pleased to find totally legitmate margaritas and somewhat legit enchiladas and tacos. Fab!


Probably a result of all the tequila, our dinner conversation was particularly hilarious. I seem to recall a certain person imitating Angelina Jolie, lots of childhood stories (No Ken. Not like this!), people dancing to the iPod, the 50 Nifty United States Song and other such antics. After dinner we moved to a random British Pub where we continued to act like idiots until everyone but Kayvohn and I decided to go home. Oh, and I had a Labbatt's -- it was the price of a 6 pack in Rochester, but well worth it. Gotta represent


I had totally not been planning on doing another all-nighter this month (or ever again for that matter) but alas. Kayvohn and I are rockstars. Sometimes. Acutally no, not that often at all...
Unsurprisingly, too much craziness happened, so I'm gonna just outline in trusy bullet form again:
-Nicknaming a bartender The Weasel. Perfect name.
-Meeting these four Japanese dudes (yes, I realize there are only 3 in the picture) who were probably the most fun and outgoing jdudes I've met in ages. If I wasn't on strike from Jdudes, I might have gotten a number or two...

-Running into the crazy Ozzies again. I'm pretty sure this picture is posed like this to reduce chin flab... that, however, does not explain why Emma is grabbing Prue's boob. Uh huh.

-Running into Hiroshi again. Don't be shocked - he still sucks.
-Having a run-in with one of those 7 foot Nigerians. He was actually really nice, but I hope he doesn't call me. Uhhhhhhhhhh...
-And, like all Niigata ALTs, taking ridiculous drunk pictures with those stupid baseball statues in Furumachi.



It was an incredibly silly evening, but what made it even wackier was the amount of snow that fell between when we started drinking and when I finally got home (at 6am!). I had ridden my bike to the station just 12 hours before and now it was absolutely covered. So I jogged home, slipped about 40 times but never fell (thank goodness!). It was rather miserable and I was happy to make it to my electric blanket...

I'm getting too old for this!