I joined the Tea Club and am still a man

In English it sounds wussy, but I assure that it's far from that. There are guys in the club way cooler than I'll ever be. 茶道 ("Sadou" - The Way of Tea) and お茶会 ("Ochakai" - Tea Ceremonies) are of the most important aspects of Japanese traditional culture, and originally, back in the day when people were still cutting each other in half over land, only men were allowed to do it.
Over time they let the girls in too, and now it's a fairly popular activity all over the country.

The sensei is most likely the nicest person I've ever met in my life. I don't think Jesus has anything on this woman. She gave me a beautiful cloth used during the ceremony called a fukusa that has some pictures of horses and words of wisdom written on it. I swear this cloth could lull crying babes to sleep and stop the war in Iraq; it's that soft.

I officially signed a thingy saying I joined, and during the closing statements of night it got mentioned by one of the senior members that I would be joining, and everyone applauded and I said some humble words to beg their good treatment of me in the future. I had to do a self introduction as well, and everyone was surprised at my age and height, as usual.

All that's left to do is make an inkan (a name stamp) and a kimono.

I'm doomed.

Got the results of our health exams back today, and it turns out I`m a perfectly healthy for Japanese male, except that I have low LDL Cholesterol. A little memo on the results paper said `We can find a slight abnormality in the examination data, but you need not think yourself to be ill,` which I naturally thought was a Japanese euphemism for `I`m done for`.

ハロウィーンで交流会 ： 留学生ら親睦深める

The following is a newspaper article from Sundays print of the Saga Newspaper.

　ハロウィーンにちなんだパーティーが七日夕、佐賀大学本庄キャンパスで初めて開かれた。在学生と十一ヵ国の留学生が仮想し、学長室などを訪問。国別対抗のパフォーマンスコンテストで親睦をお深めた。
　佐賀大には三百人を超える留学生がいる。ただ、日本人学生と触れ合う機会は少ないといい、学内の交流サークル「A・C・S」がイベントを企画した。
　参加者は「トリック・オア・トリート（お菓子をくれないと、いたずらするぞ）」とはやし立て、学長室や研究室を訪問。菓子をもらう代わりに、出身国の音楽を収めたCDなどを贈った。
　カナダ出身のウードブリ・コリンさん（二〇）や中国のチョウイツヒンさん（二〇）は「日本人の友達をつくるきっかけになる」と、催しを歓迎。ベトナムから一ヶ月前来日したばかりのファン・ティ・トゥハンさん（二二）も「寂しくなくなる」と喜び、大学会館で開かれたコンテストでは伝統衣装アオザイを着て、同郷の三人と一緒に歌を披露した。
　企画した小山修矢さん（二一）＝文化教育学部三年＝は「交流を根付かせ、地域にも広げたい」と意気込んでいた。
　（井上）


The translation of which is as follows:

A party dedicated to Halloween took place for the first time at Saga University's Honjo campus this past Friday. Current students as well as international students from eleven countries disguised themselves and visited various places, including the office of the Dean. The students also deepened their friendships through a country-by-country performance contest.
While Saga University has over three hundred international students, it seems that opportunities for them to truly interact with Japanese students are few and far between, and as such, a student group called the ACS rose to the occasion and organized such an event.
Those who attended paid visits to the offices of various professors as well as the office of the Dean, chanting "Trick or Treat!" as they came. Instead of getting candy, however, the students gave gifts of CD's containing music of the students' various home countries, among other things.
Colin Woodbury (20), from Canada, and Chou Wi Tsuhin (20), from China, praised such an event as a "wonderful opportunity to forge new friendships." Fan Ti Touhan (22), a Vietnamese who arrived only a month ago, stated with enthusiasm, "It's a great way to beat loneliness," as she, along with three of her fellow Vietnamese, performed a tune in traditional dress in one of the main halls of the university.
The organizer, Koyama Shuuya (21) - 3rd year Culture & Education student - expressed his own wishes by saying, "I really want to expand our horizons by setting the cornerstones in (cultural) exchange."


Mom, please do print this off and save it.

Not for Western Viewing

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=AoDBgG97EU4

...because you won't understand it. Not a lick of English!
That's because this was a video made as a DVD gift to be given out during our Halloween party which is, in fact, today.

唐津

Videooooos
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg2oRJJNTG4