Last night, Saturday, I went to a party hosted by a friend from high school. Of course, there were tons of other people I graduated from high school with there too. It was pretty fun seeing everyone – it was also strange in a way because a lot of the evening seemed like it could have happened 6 or 7 years ago. No one seemed to have changed a whole lot. I guess that’s good…right? I mean, once we all got through the “what are you doing these days” talk, it was just like old times. A lot of those guys still hang out with each other – I wonder what my life would have been like if I would have stayed in St. Louis. Not just Japan, but going to school in Indiana separated me a bit. No regrets, just a though. Time warp experiences will do that to you.

I also figured out it’s a lot easier to introduce my job as “teaching English to a bunch of old businessmen in Japan” than just saying “teacher,” to prevent people picturing me as a high school teacher and having to re-explain later.

It was a pain getting to the party, though. I was all set to go thanks to Google Maps, but then I found out that a major bridge along my path was out. Apparently the bridge has been out for like a year, but of course I didn’t know that. So I ended up taking a different way that was only slightly different. I’m in the general area, looking for the right street. It was like Winter Garden Avenue or something, off of Winter View. I made 3 wrong turns that night, onto streets like Winter Valley, Winter Grove, and Winter River. That’s right. Every street in the area started with Winter! Talk about terrible city planning. I found out later that it’s because there is a huge park in the area named Winter Park, but still, come on!

I’ve noticed it’s a lot harder for me to blog while at home (my parents house), even though I’ve got more free time than ever and spend a lot of days sitting around and watching TV. I think with so many people around all the time, I can’t collect my thoughts as much as usual. No absolute self-reflection time to compile the rambling dribble I usually come up with. In other updates, pizza is awesome and I wish Japan had Cecil Whitaker’s or even Uno’s.

Tomorrow is New Years Eve and I don’t feel like going out at all. Does that mean I’m getting too old? I guess last year I stayed in too, but that was in Osaka after eating an illegal amount of food at the shabu-shabu place.