Last Monday I went to Disney Sea! Disney Sea is the other Disney park right next to Tokyo Disney, like California Adventure, that has themes of the 7 seas. But unlike California Adventure this park is extremely good. I was invited to go by a friend of a friend and before this I had never seen her. However, we got along extremely well and had an excellent time there. Also, since it was a Monday and a Typhoon was approaching the park was not even that crowded, which of course I absolutely loved. We hit all the major attractions at least once and saw the shows, except for the fireworks which were canceled due to extreme winds. When all was done, I had a great time and made a new friend to do stuff with in the future.

The full Disney Sea Gallery

The Entrance to Disney Sea

The nautilus inside the volcano

My new friend Jenn

Here are the Thailand pictures that I have been meaning to post. The image gallery is very simple and made by me, but should be improved over time.

www.senseiandy.com

As I was reading a magazine today I came across this..

"The National Cancer Center said that thin people are more apt to develop cancer than fat people”

If that is the case, I’m screwed.

On Sunday I went with my friend to the US Air Force base in Yokota for a Friendship festival and air show. It was not much of an air show, which was probably why they called it a Friendship festival instead. Still, thousands of Japanese people came and awed at the American flying machines, paid extremely high prices for American foods, and waited in huge lines for everything. The only real air show aspects were some fly-bys from some F/A-18s and F-16s, and a helicopter demonstration.

If you didn’t know, these are F/A-18s

Ryoichi infront of an A-10

Eiji infront of a …. I forgot. It’s not one of the cool planes.

The line to get on the plane was 10 times what you see here

After spending two great weeks in Thailand I am now back home in Japan. That fact is still very strange for me. Throughout my entire life I have always returned to the same house in Los Angeles where there are familiar surroundings and people. Now it seems that I have returned from a vacation only to be on another one. Living in Japan, for almost 4 months soon, has seemed like one long vacation. I am not saying it has always been fun, but rather I have yet to build a standard routine and lifestyle that so opposes that of a vacation. When I first came to Japan I made of list of things to accomplish by the end of my year, and so far my list has not gotten much smaller. It seems that I am the king of procrastination, continually putting things off until later so as they never get done. Yet, now I am back from Thailand. Now, there is nothing in the near future to wait for. So it’s time to get started.

Thailand was amazing. I did so many things that I have never done in my life and saw an equally amazing number of things as well. When trying to write about my trip the thoughts and images come pouring into my mind overwhelming me into a state of dizziness. Going through the approximate 1000 pictures that my friend and I took is a daunting task in itself, but soon I will create a photo gallery for all to enjoy… that is if I ever get the photo gallery done.

23!

Tomorrow, August 5th, I will be leaving for Thailand for 2 weeks. ECC gives me a summer break and I decided to take full advantage of it, so for the next two weeks while I am in Thailand I will not be posting anything. However, when I get back expect lots and lots of pictures!

Here I am on a language exchange with some of the staff from ECC. Basicaly, they teach Japanese and I teach English and we all have fun. This language exchange was my first time, but when I come back from vacation I was asked to do many more.

From left: Me, Yuka, I forgot
From back: Eri, Ako, I forgot
Strange how I don’t remember the other ECC teachers’ names.

More bugs to add to my collection…

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This summer Japan has had record tempatures. The heat and humidity has sometimes been unbearable. Also recently, the semi, which is the Japanese symbol for summer, appeared and started making lots and lots of noise. The Semi is a giant Japanese Cicada that makes this long, extremely loud, and high piched noise constatntly throughout the day. I actually enjoy the sound of the semi… that is when they don’t fly onto my screen at 5 in the morning and abruptly wake me up!

A week after the Chofu Fireworks I went to the ones in Tachikawa. They were smaller but still very magnificent. Unlike the USA where there is a maximum of 2 days of fireworks, Japan’s entire summer is fireworks season. In late July and August it is possible to see fireworks every weekend if you so deisred.

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