Japanese Whiskers

This whole week has been busier than usual. First I had a presentation due Tuesday, followed by just generally high amounts of homework. Then on Saturday, the so called "Ball Meet" (don't ask me why they call the sports festival that, I sure as hell don't want to think about it) took place, at which I and my team got our collective asses whooped in dodgeball, and narrowly beaten in volleyball. The one game my volleyball team actually won, they won while I was away doing the presentation I just mentioned. Aside from losing though, I had a very good time. In the evening, we had a barbecue in the park, at which I got to eat some really juicy cheese burgers, a big ol' steak (hadn't had that in a long time) and drink some nice beer. I stayed up way too late after that, which meant getting up this morning was quite a chore. I had to get up though, because I went to Akita City to talk in front of a group practicing translation. I spent the morning hours shopping and sitting at a café drinking a cold latte, and then had some of the best ice cream I've had in years on the way to the community building the group meet at. The topic I talked about was role playing games, and they actually seemed interested. I had a pretty good time, and earning 5000 yen for talking about your hobby for two hours ain't that bad.