On Friday I had everyone come over for a big Japanese dinner at my place. I invited the Shinshu-ers Jesse and Sam, my study abroad mates Blaine and Megan, and Trey from 2nd floor who went to Kansai Gaidai last year. 6 in total.
I started around 5pm with getting the rice cooking and then Jesse arrived. Trey came too, and we all helped make the edamame in the kitchen. I sorta used a recipe from WikiHow.com, and it turned out okay. I shouldn't be allowed to drop things into boiling water...I splashed some water onto my hand when I threw a bunch of the beanpods in. After that I just prepared other things. haha!
Soon Megan and Blaine arrived, and we were all set. We sat in a circle in my room, and I made sure everyone had chopsticks and bowls for everything. Dessert was a delicious mochi mix - taro mochi and another one that tasted like coffee/tiramisu. It was delicious, all of it. I finally got to use all of my asian-ware!
Trey told us a lot about Kansai Gaidai. He had lots of stories about Seminar House III, the one we're all planning on going to together. It's an apartment style that accommodates up to 8 people. Each Seminar House has a "Mom and Dad" that run the desk and ensure everyone follows the rules. Apparently the parents for Seminar House III are very strict and make guests read the rules (and quiz them on it!) before being allowed in. Hmm...
The Seminar House III is located about a mile from campus - a 15 minute walk. Trey recommends getting a bicycle - about $60.
Campus itself and the Houses are all enclosed by fences. We get a key for the Seminar House gate, but there's a guardsmen at watch for the university gate. The university closes around 9pm and the House closes at 10pm. I wonderful if I'll ever be out that late near there?
We had a great time talking about our future travels. We talked for awhile after dinner and everyone helped clean up with me! Thank you, guys. It was really fun.
