There are some events that are simply too much fun to describe. Imagine this: exchange students from canada, korea, the US, germany, and finland gathered together in one person's tiny apartment with a whole bunch of japanese people from the volunteer program and one aunt from Thailand, add a potluck dinner with lots of good food that will cause you to eat overmuch, and mix with umeshu, reicha, and some beer.

Great night was had, even though it ended rather late and made this morning, among other things, rather difficult to face. I killed a watermelon with an overly large butcher knife and enjoyed every moment of it.

Today in class we had the kendo demonstration by Peter-sensei. Watching the recordings of several tournaments and exams I realized that kendo is a lot different from what I thought it was. For some reason I thought it would be more restrained but as we watched the movies I saw how it has come to be described as an evolution from killing. It does seem the kind of martial art I would like to learn but would ultimately be frustrated by my short attention span as I tried to achieve the kendo spirit. I think at the end of the road i would appreciate the newfound mindset but would probably give up along the way....