Day 22 - 20th of September

8:57pm　セミナーハウス
天気：暑い
Today was... interesting. I got to the university at 10:30, ready to engage with the thousands of high school students. They weren't expected to arrive until about 12:00, so after a general meeting everyone had about an hour to sit around, chat, and eat the sandwiches provided. Everyone except me. I stupidly decided not to bring my power supply or adapter for my laptop. Only when I got the did I realise, oh yes, this probably would be a good thing to have if I'm going to be speaking to students for 4 hours, and my batteries only last for 2!!! So what did I do, I power walked all the way back to the seminar house, retrieved the power board, power supply and adapter, and rushed back to the bus stop; I wasn't about to run all the way back. I made it just in time, and even got to stuff in a sandwich. Then the fun began. And it was fun, for the most part. I had my laptop to back me up (with all my pics), and Mai, a really helpful graduating student at Gaidai, suported me when talking to the high school students. Oh, and they decided it would be a good idea to bring my cross stitch in; it was the highlight of many a conversation.

As the hours went by, slowly, I went through about three bottles of water, and the rest of my sandwiches. We spoke with at least 30-40 students. Some of the time it was just Mai and the students, with me sitting there listening intently. I was really happy with the amount I could understand, and I did get to speak quite a bit in Japanese. Overall it was a great day, and, at the end, we all received Kansai Gaidai t-shirts as a present for our hard work. Yay, I fit in a small!!! I think they said they were American sizes though? My voice was shot by the end of it; the last couple of people had to put up with my croaking. After putting the room back in order, I walked home, tired, and still a bit hungry.

After watching a bit of the Matrix 2, I went to make dinner, using the last of my food, bar the bread. And now, I'm on the computer looking up places to see at Biwako, what times the trains are going. Awww, the inn keeper (whom I've been in contact with via email) has been so helpful. He's even offered a pick-up service from the train station. Yay, so excited!!! So yeah, I'm almost packed, and rearing to go. Oh, and eating the last of the mochi, xD