"The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and all time." - George Bernard Shaw

I’d like to write that more is going on here, but I’ve settled into a routine during the week. My diet now consists almost exclusively of curry, pasta and sweet breads from a bakery down the road. Thankfully my friend Katherine has taken it upon herself to attempt to improve my diet by cooking for me on occasion. Most of my time is consumed by studying Japanese, as I have fallen behind. I’m no longer putting in much time in the library, since I don’t have time to spare.

My class at Shiga University has been fun but rather easy. I’m convinced that the class is billed to the Japanese students as an English-language course and not a business course. The Japanese students in the class are friendly and try hard to speak English, but overall contribute little to a subject that would be difficult if taught at a proper collegiate level. Since very few American students have a background in business most of the input from the JCMU students is painfully bad. Apparently coming from America is enough of a qualification for them to speak at length about American businesses. I don’t have the hubris to think that my own experience qualifies me to speak at length about economics, so I’ve been reading the Economist online. However, the professor does not have a background in the American economy so most of the time the lectures simply praise the Japanese economy and work ethic. I’m disgusted that so many of my classmates have jumped on-board with blindly following the lectures. What I have learned outside the class is that Japan has just as many problems as the Western world.

Last weekend I went to Kyoto for the night, eating at a traditional Japanese restaurant with one of our Japanese friends: Megumi. Afterwards we went to a few bars and a club. The bars we went to were imitation British bars and had live English football games on the televisions. I could have spent more time there if Kevin had not wanted to dance as bad as he did. The club was fun again, but I’m still struck by how disheveled and surly most of the locals appear at the clubs. I’ve been told that clubbing is a foreign concept to the Japanese, so the people who go to clubs are not generally mainstream.

At a party thrown by the Shiga University students a few of our acquaintances got ridiculously drunk and vomited in the bathroom and out front. My friends fortunately shared my disgust at them for doing something like that at a party we were invited to. The rest of the party was useful, as I got to speak Japanese to a few friendly Shiga University and Shiga Prefecture University students. I’m still amused at home many Japanese kids who are under the legal drinking age, 20, do not drink even when offered alcohol.

Most of the ‘drama’ amongst the students has fallen away as people have become more honest with each other. Everyone has pretty much fallen into their own camps, and people like the drunkards get ostracized for embarrassing the school. Everyone has gotten tired of apologizing for them to the Japanese. To many of the Japanese we meet we represent America, and in our orientation the staff reminds us to be good cultural ambassadors for America.