February 4

I saw another instance of weird Japanese interaction today. It seems like the way it goes in Japan for a young dating couple is; the girl shows a bit of affection (nothing gross by public standard) and the dude just stands there and acts like nothing’s happening. Japan is so weird.

Class was particularly short today (as it is every Wednesday) and I was happy to get out. I planned my week so that I wouldn’t have to do homework today and I could go to Jusco again to shop around (since I bought nothing last time). Before Jusco though, was my daily Valor’s lunch. I worked up the courage to try what looks like a green jelly donut, and it turned out to be a great and a horrible decision. It was great because it was like a donut, but green tea flavored, and instead of jelly inside, it had sweet bean paste. The only down side was, there was a piece of mochi in the middle and in case you haven’t heard, I hate the consistency of it.
On the way to Valor (if you avoid half of the 25% grade hill, there is a house with two Japanese dogs in the garage. They always seem to be sleeping in the middle of the day (seeing as they’re tethered, it doesn’t seem so strange). They’re really fluffy (and yeah, a bit cute) looking though, and I keep forgetting to get a picture when I go by.

At Jusco, I saw all the same things I saw last weekend (big surprise since it’s been less than a week). I couldn’t find any shoes I wanted, there were lots of scarves (all acrylic, of course), and the dress I need a second opinion on is still there. Once again, I didn’t find anything to buy, but at least I’ve figured out what I want (and how many things I don’t want). There was one rayon scarf that I like a lot, but it’s 3000en, so I can’t bring myself to buy it yet. I’m hoping one of my friends (who is a girl) will come with me to Jusco tomorrow to get a second opinion on the dress and that I can find some people to go to Osu (Friday?) one more time with before I go to Tokyo on Monday (to get some shoes that won’t kill my feet). Maybe I’ll just go alone anyway if they punk out like they usually do, then I wouldn’t have to worry about them getting tired when I’m still feeling like looking around. Also; I am finding it hard to decide what to buy for everyone. There hasn’t been anything that I’ve seen where I’ve thought “That would be great for (insert name here)” as of yet.

On the walk home, I saw three elementary students (with the uniform backpacks). One was in the small park in the neighborhood getting ready to jump rope, and the other two (who seemed to be friends with the third) were in the street (this isn’t so dangerous in Japan) petting the cat that I had seen previously in the neighborhood. The cat seemed pretty happy and it was an interesting sight.