Oct. 28th

Japanese bakeries are the coolest. Where else in the world can you buy a sweet roll shaped like a Totoro?! (For those of you unfamiliar with Totoros, you need to see Hayao Miyazaki's film "My Neighbor Totoro". Its so cute!). Things are goin' good over here. I got some nice bruises in karate on Monday, we actually hit eachother! I look like a victim of domestic violence again ;P. On wednesday we spent the entire two hours working on our kata. Not many people come on wednesdays for some reason, even though it feels much like any other day in karate, but it can be nice since Braden and I can get what feels like private karate lessons on those days, hehe. It was so cold though. Yesterday was the first real cold day we've experienced here in Matsue, and for the first time since coming I had to break out my winter coat and scarf. The dojo was freezing, and even though doing kata helped warm up my body, my fingers and toes were numb pretty much the whole time :P. They didn't really warm up till we got home and I had some hot chocolate. Today its rainy again, still cold, and I'm already hoping winter goes quickly. Its not really pleasant to bike in the cold rain. We have rain jackets and rain pants, but the rain still gets in my face while I'm riding and makes it kinda hard to see. Spring can't come soon enough (and I have a while to wait :P).