June 14th:
This was a great day because on this Saturday, the hall got together for a big BBQ outside. We found some "goliath" random grill on the third floor, and -- coupled with a massive meat order -- it ended up being fantastic time. The weather was perfect too. Unfortunately, the neighbors complained around 6 PM, saying we were being too loud. This is insane though because our volume level was no even audible from 100 feet away inside the dorm with windows open.. And even worse, its a freaking Saturday.. We are thinking that the neighbors, particularly the elderly ones, have a problem with foreigners having a little bit fun. Anyways, we didn't let that stop the party. We took it inside and some drinking games ensued. Like the game "Pterodactyl" where you have to say the word pterodactyl without showing your teeth in a clockwise direction or you can make the sound of a pterodactyl to changed the direction. It's a fun game because everyone's interperatation of a pterodactyl screech is unique. Here are pictures/a video of pterodactyl.
Great people, great times.
Here's a sample of the pterodactyl game. I kept filming Pramod (India) because his sound/face was just so priceless people wouldn't stop laughing when he did it. He was dubbed "The Pramodactyl". Nicest guy in the hall.
Erika (Germany), Ben (USA) and Anita (Hungary)
Same trio plus Johanes, who just cleaned up a broken glass Anita spilled.. Too much to drink, she was hilarious.
Sipping on scotch. My friend Erika on left.
She wanted a picture with everyone in the hall, but didn't remember this when I showed it to her the next day. XP For the record she doesn't do this often..
I made sure to take it easy on Saturday night because the next day, I was meeting up with my friend Suguru to play tennis with some of his colleagues.
June 15th:
A day filled with exercise, Japanese treats, and a bomb dinner. My friend Jason and I set out around 11 in the morning towards Kobe to meet Suguru and his friends. We met up with three older guys, all former tennis students of Suguru's and some of them his co-workers. One of his friends (I forgot their names, but this was the "chubby one") was extremely well-off apparently. Jason and I paid about 60 yen for 1.5 liters of water, and hopped into the chubby guy's mini-van and the rest of the day was his treat. The drive seemed wasteful to me because it was back in the direction Jason and I came from by train, and it was a pretty long train ride. Anyhow, we got to a Mizuno athletics center, which I've seen plenty of, but never had the chance to enter. The indoor courts were interesting. Carpet surface makes for a lot of grip, so predicting the balls took a little getting used to. About an hour in, I played a couple tiebreakers with Suguru, my first ones with him in about a year. Things hadn't changed too much. I lost 3-10, 5-10, 4-10. So frustrating... I guess he is a tennis instructor with years of experience on me. I'm just too damn competitive. After playing with Suguru, I played some doubles with his friends. The last game was fun because it was Jason and I representing America vs two of the Japanese guys. My focus was to have a consistent second serve, and I had no double faults the whole set (but also a ton of missed first serves... -_-). Either way, we won!! 'Muricah! Here are some pics:
You can see which one is the chubby guy. He was very generous.
Good to play with him again. Repping the UC Irvine shirts. Zot zot zot!
Outdoor courts at sunset. I thought it looked nice.
Dinner at my favorite curry udon place. This sushi the chubby guy ordered was delicious.
The chubby guy paid for our dinner, and dropped us off at Osaka Station after. Overall, a great day, great exercise, great company, great food, and apparently we are doing it again soon. I'm excited.
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