Asuka, Brandon, me, and Masato in the Shima 

Brandon, Asuka, me, Jason, Mel, and Masato at Brandon's for dinner 

Brandon and me eating candy apples 

Brandon, Simon, and Masato on Mt. Fuji 

Foreign Like Me

Sorry, once again, for the long delay in posting. This time, my excuse is that not too much interesting has happened since the last time I posted. The school semester just ended and my two week vacation begins. Mom, Dad, and Greg will be arriving on Monday, so I'll have lots of pictures and stories after they leave. We're planning several side trips that should be interesting. I will be the official translator so hopefully Japan decides to be nice and collectively starts to speak slower and more simply.
Anyway, the purpose of today's blog is to do something long overdue ... introduce the friends I have met in Japan. This section will discuss the other foreigners I've met, and next time I'll talk about the phlethora of interesting Japanese people I've met.
Mel and Jason
Mel and Jason are my best friends in Japan. Mel came to Japan about a week after I did and we became fast friends. She and Jason are Maori from New Zealand. Jason arrived about 3 months after Mel. Before that, Mel joined the little first-year-JET crew. She is without a doubt one of the friendliest people I have ever met. People can't help but like her. We'll be walking down the street and some random person will say, "Oh, hello Meh-roh-dee!" Sometimes she even knows who it is. Everybody remembers meeting her. When I talk to JETs from other places and tell them I'm from Kure, 90% of the time they'll ask, "Do you know Melody?" Point being, she's a terrific person. Jason is her fiance. They have been together for over 7 years and will most likely get married while in Japan. Jason is the essence of the strong, silent type. He's a bit larger than me, which makes me feel quite at ease with him - I feel normal sized when he's around. When he does talk, he exudes good humor and warmth. We all hang out a lot together, though I worry that they may tire of me sometimes. Being here by myself, I'm quite lucky to have Mel and Jason around - they make the whole place feel more like home.
Brandon and Asuka
Brandon was my first friend in Japan. We became friends quite quickly. He is an amazing guy. Always full of energy and life. I've never seen him down and he is rarely calm. He is always laughing and telling jokes and often pokes fun at me. He is tremendously good natured and has a big heart. He is also the most Canadian person I have ever met. He should have his picture on their money for all the promotion he does for them. If there was a Grand Nationalist Patriotic Canadian Brotherhood - lord, I hope not - Brandon would be its founder and chairman.
Brandon lives out in Kawajiri - about a 20 minute trip from Kure - with Asuka, his girlfriend. Asuka is Japanese, but she lived in Toronto for a long time and speaks both English and Japanese fluently. Her Canadian accent is much softer than Brandon's. She's a sweet, considerate person who always keeps Brandon in line. They are both fun to be around.
Masato
Masato is an American like me, but there are few similarities beyond that. He's probably the tiniest of all the JETs. A picture I've yet to take is him walking between Jason and me. He's from LA and spent the last year working on Democratic Party campaigns in the state. His parents are from Japan and he speaks fluent Japanese. He keeps us entertained with his antics. No matter what is going on, he always seems to be busy and nearly out of breath. It takes him a 5 minute phone call to say what most could say in 15 seconds. But he has an infectious laugh and a winning personality. We all enjoy it when he's around. Unfortunately, he's stuck on a tiny island in the Seto Inland Sea, nearly an hour and a half commute from Kure. Between his junior high and elementary, he has 94 students. For some perspective, between my 6 schools in the city, I have over 1000. And aside from his students, there is hardly anybody under the age of 50. So, he often spends his weekends in Kure with us. Always a blast.
There are plenty of other nice people in the city, but these five form the core of my friends here. Simon, an Irish dude living on an island close to Masato, is also a good friend, but he comes into Kure much more rarely. Sally, an Aussie gal who lives above Melody, is quickly becoming part of the Crew. Rome, another American that we hung out with when we first came to Japan, has since become a hermit and stopped calling anyone.
So that concludes this part. Tune in about two weeks from now and I regale you with stories of when the Langs met Japan.