Sun, Fireworks, Volley, Water

What do these four things have in common? My last two days. On Saturday morning about 25 of us went out to the Pacific Ocean and then afterwards went and watched Fireworks. There were definitely a few things that make me laugh about the day and a couple things that I just don't get. Let's start with the few things that make me laugh.

First: Buying a snow cone! Why do you ask is this my number one? The cup to hold the snow cone was about the size of a small ice cream bowl. Now imagine seeing the largest snow cone in the world sitting on top of an ice cream bowl. That is what I tried to eat. The snow cone ended up being about the size of a kids soccer ball. Now add to this picture a 95 degree day on the beach. The ice was melting at an incredible rate but there is nowhere for it to melt because the small bowl that I am holding can't hold very much water. I think I only ate about half of it because the other half ended up on the ground because of it melting so fast.

Second: Sunburn! So I did not think to bring suntan lotion with me to the beach but on the way I saw some in a convenience store but since it was so expensive, I thought to myself, "I bet someone else will bring some that I can use." Out of the 22 students that came, not one of them brought suntan lotion!! I guess this is a yearly ritual where they all go out to the beach and get burned. So my bald head is no longer white but has a nice red shine to it. So I was told I looked like an octopus (tako) and also like a baby (akachan). That may need a little explaining. The word for baby doesn't seem to make much sense. Aka is red and chan is like a nickname you add to a persons name. So babies look red, I guess, in Japan so the name is akachan for baby. So tonight I was able to introduce myself as, 私はたこのあかちゃんです。(Watashi wa tako no akachan desu. I am an octopuses baby.) And I do look like one to.

Third: Volleyball! We had a volleyball tournament today. We had a freshman team, 2 sophomore teams, junior, and senior team. Besides being sunburned, 95 degrees, and playing volleyball it was a blast. I played on the second sophomore team and we went 4-0. Victors. The hardest team there was definitely the seniors which was an exciting battle as it was the most aggressive game I have ever seen. The sophomores really wanted to beat there elders and the seniors did not want to lose to the youngin's. People were diving all over the place but we snuck it out in the third game to win the best of 3.

Finally: Water! We had the farewell party tonight for James and Lauren and we will head down to Tokyo tomorrow morning. After our party we had a huge water fight. It starts nice and slow with water balloons but then everyone starts filling up 2 liter bottles with water and havoc breaks lose. I am glad to say there were no casualties, at least human casualties. By the end we had to say goodbye to one girls contact. It was sad. I guess the phrase, "No man left behind" doesn't apply to contacts.

Well, off to some much needed sleep as I will be in Tokyo for the next two days. Oyasumi Nasai. お休みなさい。