Helloooooo!

Not too much to report for today. Mio is off to see her boyfriend and her mom is at the doctor's so I'm just hanging out. It is kind of nice after days and days of constant walking and sight seeing. Yes you can call me lazy but my thighs are killing me!

Yesterday Mio and I met one of my friend's from Marist in Osaka. He is here visiting his girlfriend which he met during his study abroad time at Kansai Gaidai. While in Osaka we went shopping in America Town and another shopping district. Now when I say we went shopping I mean we looked around hundreds of places and goofed around, I don't usually buy much here. I've been trying to figure out why because when I was in America I loved to shop. I've come to a few conclusions. While abroad I've only used my credit card twice and the rest of the money has been coming out of my pocket. I love to spend money but I also love to save money. I love going to an ATM and checking my balance to see how much money I have earned. I suppose it makes me feel more like an adult. There is also the crucial fact that while in America I wear a size medium but to the Japanese that is an XL. Can you believe it?! How alarming is it to believe you are "above average weight" in your own country but then realize you're double that size in another? My friend was almost completely out of luck while looking for a leather jacket as Japanese men are not known for broad shoulders and chests where as my American friend looked like the hulk while trying them on (he is also a medium in America.) So maybe I am too self conscious to attempt to squeeze my thighs and hips into Japanese clothes or has my humble status as a gaijin (foreigner) cured me of my shopping desires? I think not, as I did manage to spend $180 in credit yesterday - Sorry Dad! It was however, completely necessary! You must be wondering, with my talk of clothing, what could possibly be necessary at $180. The answer to this is the Casio EX-word DATAPLUS4 Electronic Dictionary.

Looks fancy right? Right. This electronic dictionary, believe it or not, is "outdated" according to Japanese standards. Many of these electronic dictionaries come with English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean all in one. My new best friend contain Japanese-Japanese, English-Japanese, English-English, and Japanese-English dictionaries. The top screen is actually a touch screen and it comes with the option of a back light. That screen on the lower half of the keyboard is a touch screen also but it is for writing characters. One Kanji can mean several things so it can be difficult to determine exactly how it is pronounced. With this feature you can write the Kanji and have it give you all the definitions. It is an incredible gadget. I had never heard of it until Mio came to stay with my family in the US. She lived off of this thing for a while until she got her English feet under her so to speak. I have been carrying around my Japanese-English/English-Japanese paperback book but flipping through the thousand pages gets tedious and by the time I've found the word I'm looking for it is entirely possible that I've forgotten what I wanted to say. The Casio EX-word makes searching and defining a whole lot easier. You might notice, or wonder, that since I bought it in Japan it is completely in Japanese. To answer your question... Yes, I'm working on it xP
Over all it is an incredible piece of equipment and I am excited to begin using it. Thank you!