My Field Trip to Mt. Tsukuba

Once we got to the mountain, we met a Japanese monk who was going to tell us about the history of the mountain and the temple. This monk didn't speak any English so the department head asked me to translate for the Beginning Class but let me tell you, translation is not easy! People talk fast and are on to the next topic before you can get out what they just said. You try to paraphrase as much as possible without leaving out the good parts all the while, hoping that you aren't mistakenly translating "This building was erected 700years ago by 10 Buddhist Priest" into "This is the building where 10 Buddhist priest had erections 700 years ago". You see what I mean?! It's tough.

We had a nice day though, walking around the temple grounds and then back down to a nearby hotel where we saw a short show about a staple of the mountain called "Gama no Abura (Toad Oil)" This gama no abura is supposed to have healing powers so I bought it...but I really don't expect it to work. I've been using it like lip balm and so far it protects well from this ridiculous wind!

OH NO SHE DIDN'T DO IT AGAIN!

Ya'll, the laundry room bandit has been at it again, but THIS time I caught her!

So, I'm washing clothes on a not so busy Friday evening. No one else had anything going when I first started so I used both washing machines and dryers. Those two loads were done, and I had one more to go. When that third load finished washing and I came back I put them in the dryer I noticed that someone else had started washing and had left their pink laundry basket in the laundry room. I started the dryer and went back in my room. About 15 minutes later, I walked by the laundry room to go to the bathroom and I saw one of my socks and a shirt hanging out of the washing machine which was ODD because I had JUST put them in the dryer and turned it on 15 minutes prior. Low and behold, my things were in the washer and someone else's were now in their place drying away.

I. WAS. HOT.

So I took that person's things out, put my things back in the dryer turned it on. And wrote another note for the B&%#$ who took my wet things out of the dryer telling her we needed to talk and where to find me, went back to my room and left the door open, waiting. Now, it wasn't the middle of the night like the last time so I was pretty sure she would come back to the laundry room before I went to sleep. And she did.

She went in there and saw her things on the floor and of course she was upset but who cares? We had a nice little argument in which she tried to say that the dryer had stopped and she wanted to use the machine -blah,blah,blah- all lies. I told her to stop being such a liar, he mother would be disappointed and few other choice words as well. I don't really know how to argue or be a smart ass in Japanese so that sucks, but I doubt she will pull that stunt again. But if she does, she will have to spend twice as long washing clothes because her stuff is going back on the floor. I can understand wanting to use a machine and taking out dry clothes, but wet ones? Not cool.

Common courtesy is seriously lacking in the dormitories on this campus. I think Japanese mothers do so much for their kids when they live at home, that they are rendered helpless when they have to do things on their own in the real world. You should see the way the hallways, toilets, kitchens and laundry rooms around this campus look. Absolutely filthy. They must be expecting someone's mama or granma to come behind them and clean up, and while they are waiting, the rest of us who have some decency about us have to suffer.