One thing from Kendo, and Kimonos and a Farm

On Friday, I forgot to say that we had actual duals in kendo club, not just practice duals. So I was last in the order. Since my section was a bit slow, it was just me fighting another boy, and the whole team was watching. He got two points, I got one. But everyone was cheering and screaming for me. Afterwards, Kuno-sensee came up to me and was like That was so good! But he told me I have to keep my back straight. It's really difficult. Because I always have such bad posture.
On Monday, I walked into the gym expecting kendo practice but there was none! IT was a pleasent surprise because it's always so exhausting. So I wandered around school and found Sakiko Maria. Maria is a third-year student who is half-Filippino, half-Japanese. She used to live in the Philippines. She's really cool and we sit next to each other in Spanish class and never pay attention. So we walked downtown together, and on a whim, called Kei. Kei is another third-year student who spent a year in Topeka, Kansas, as a Rotary exchange student. She was in a kimono shop looking for a gift for some friends. So we went and helped her. The shop was so elegant and everything was so beautiful. THen we went out for coffee at Tully's in the train station and just sat there for two hours, talking about the differences in Japan, the US, the Philippines. What we thought was good about each country; what we thought was bad. It's really interesting on my exchange; I've really been getting a perspective from people all over the world.
Then today, I went to Kakegawa for some Rotary Group Study Exchange party. Group Study Exchange is a month-long program for young professionals to experience another culture. This group was from Thailand. The dinner was at a farm and it was outside. IT was a bit cold, but the food was delicious. It was really funny, I saw Watanabe-san, one of the really nice Rotarians I went fishing with a few weeks ago and haven't seen since because he's from a different club. He comes up to me, and he's like "I want you to meet the president of my Rotary club." So I'm like, okay. So he introduces me to the president, and the man is looking at me for a while, and then he's like "OH YEAH! YOU'RE THE REALLY SMART ONE!" And I'm like "Ummm..." So apparently I have some sort of reputation getting around in the local area.