Osaka and the Case of the Missing Sun

Well the last week or so has been thoroughly ruined by the worst cold I have ever had and an endless bout of rain that is taking a toll on my wallet. Riding my bike to school in the rain was okay for the first 3 days but no more, resulting in about 8 dollars a day to go to and from school! Also, the rain has scared me from bringing my camera anwhere so no pictures.

Basically, all last saturday was spent sleeping and watching disney movies with a fever and a nose that wouldn't quit but don't worry, I brought enough DayQuil here to cure an army (It happens that the stuff is illegal here, who knew? Certainly not customs.)

Sunday I decided to get out and travel to Kyoto station with my friend Sarah. No, we did not go to Kyoto, we stayed in the dry, warm Kyoto train station and discovered the many wonders they have hidden underground such as endless rows of food stores with free samples!

Tuesday night I made up for a wasted weekend when my friend Kon wanted to throw his best buddy Hana a going away party and Sarah and I attended as the token Americans. We went to a popular izakaya (a drinking establishment with food and drink you order like Tapas but cheaper). There I met Emika, Chiaki, Yumi, and Nao. Most exciting of all was meeting Nao, a girl with endless energy and the thickest Osaka accent (called kansai-ben) I have ever heard. Once the drinks started coming I found myself practicing my "kansai-ben" and it was emabarrassing to say the least. Everybody thought it was hystarical when I used the accent either because foriegners such as myself always speak in super-polite form that our textbooks teach us or because I was actually doing it wrong and sounded like an idiot. Points for trying I guess!

That's it for now, Sarah took a few pictures of last night so I might get those from her and put them up here later. Hope everybody is well. Once the rain stops you can count on me to be out and about with my camera. Bye for now~