Life in Japan

WATER SKIING in BIWAKO with Maria and Matsumoto-kun-and-his-friends, July 2006 No pictures of me actually water skiing in Biwako are available for two major reasons: we did not want to take a camera into the middle of the lake (especially that later that day a thunderstorm struck out of the blue sky and I do not think we would like to see those pictures had we taken them. As fun as it was, our (girls’) attempts at waterskiing were rather embarassing and I blocked it out. Yet it was one of the best weekends of my life since we tried all kinds of different water sports, run at night in the rain, played table soccer and ping-pong with slippers until 3 am, and I vaguely recall my friends shooting water guns at each other…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9136660@N05/sets/7215760055398828

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I also went to support Osaka football team with my friends from the IT company where I teach English, Tamagawa-san and his wife, Hisayo, Pan-kun (from Thai) and Maria (from Romania). I could successfully distinguish our team from the opponent team. In about 10 min after the game started I remember asking my friends, “who is that guy in a green T-shirt, by the way, and why is he mingling with other players?” (referring to a referee). My friends kindly explained that it was just a guy who got lost, probably a player from the previous game who got confused and is still running around the field, you know… Never mind, I had my face painted and I got to see 43 thousand excited Osaka fans, this was totally worth it.

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My dearest friend Gabrielle Bruce and her fiance Hirokazu Murai tied the knot on July, 29, 2006!!!

It was truly an honor for me to be a bride’s mate at Gabrielle’s wedding. The wedding was held at Suita Bible Gospel Church, which we both attend. The preparation was hectic, it was like in “Four Weddings and the Funeral” movie: we were running late to the church, and the groom forgot his shirt.

But right before the wedding all the excitement had settled down and it went wonderful! It was so pure and gorgeous…