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Comment: The whole gang, minus a few who couldn't make it this day - but there were other days, and other pictures, to come!
IMG_0209 * I went to Matsuyama, a lovely small city on Shikoku, with my girlfriend last month. We happened across a nice restaurant that prepared this beautiful assortment of small dishes for lunch. All delicious, and only about $12. At a time when I had just returned from home and was missing American food pretty badly, it was a small revelation, a powerful reminder of how exquisite Japanese food can be. * 3264 x 2448 * (3.9MB)

IMG_0211 * This is my girlfriend, Kana. I'm not exactly thrilled with this picture (I think we can do better), but here you are. I'll avoid long introductions, but just say that things have progressed pretty quickly, and we're very happy right now. In this picture, we're standing in front of Dogo Onsen, one of the most famous bath houses in Japan, and the inspiration for the bath house in Miyazaki's Spirited Away. * 3264 x 2448 * (2.89MB)

IMG_0276 * In this picture are most (not all) of my best JET friends in Hiroshima. The guy up front is Graham, from Ireland. Next to me is Cybil from Toronto, and Chie, one of her Japanese teachers. The next two around the horn are Marshall and Jen, both from LA. Then comes Isaac from...Wyoming or something? I don't remember. Next is Judy, from all over the place (Hungary, Austria, others), and halfway pictured there is Heather. I've been good friends with Cybil since I first got here, with Jen since last year, and with Judy since about an hour before this picture was taken. Everyone else is scattered in between, but they're all great people, and I'm more than a little bit bummed that most of them are leaving this year! * 3264 x 2448 * (4.06MB)

IMG_0383 * By way of Oga, the bass guitar/ramen slinger who I met last fall, I've made a lot of new Japanese friends in the past few months. A couple of weeks ago, Oga and Satsuki played a live show at the Ono Oyster Festival (see pictures in the Bands gallery). After their show, all of us who had come to watch went back to Satsuki's house and hung out for a while. Almost all of these people play instruments and/or ride motorcycles. I do neither. I wish I did both. Yu-kun and Satoru, a couple of bikers, give me the thumbs up anyway. * 3264 x 2448 * (2.38MB)

IMG_0385 * From the right is Satsuki, her younger sister, and two of her friends. They're pointing at the small New York snowglobe that I brought back for Satsuki (she collects them). * 3264 x 2448 * (2.51MB)
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2/3/08 3:01 PM
IMG_0392 * Pose #2! To be honest, I'm almost as happy that I've made these friends recently, as I am that I met Kana. From the start, I had plenty of JET friends, and some Japanese friends from the schools I taught at, but one big thing that was missing from my life was a group of friends that were only friends. These people aren't co-workers, and they aren't affiliated with school in anyway. I can send any one of them an email, any time, to hang out just for a couple hours spur of the moment, or make plans to take trips and go on adventures with them. It feels great to finally have local Japanese friends that I can do this kind of stuff with. * 3264 x 2448 * (4.19MB)

IMG_0460 * Oga, myself, and a few of the other people who weren't in the previous pictures went out for lunch/etc. the other day. We had Hiroshima-style tsukemen, cold ramen noodles with a dipping sauce. Hiroshima is most famous for okonomiyaki and oysters, but some people are trying to advertise the local tsukemen to get it more national attention. In Hiroshima-style tsukemen, the usually mild soy/fish stock based dipping sauce is replaced with a fiery, salty soy chili soup. It's spicy and delicious, and I like it quite a bit more than okonomiyaki or oysters! * 3264 x 2448 * (3.77MB)

IMG_0463 * We went to take purikura together after lunch, which is always fun. Here, Kon-Kon, Kayo, and Akka (from top) are putting on the decorations after taking the pictures. Putting on the decorations is staggeringly complicated, and you have a time limit, so I don't even try. I leave it to the other people in the group, preferably Japanese girls...I think they're born with the layouts of purikura machines imprinted in their minds, so it's like second nature for them. * 3264 x 2448 * (2.97MB)

IMG_0466 * 3264 x 2448 * (3.16MB)

IMG_0470 * Fun with a public art exhibit. * 3264 x 2448 * (3.31MB)
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