Doug's Birthday "Surprise"

I wish that I had more time to write. At the same time, I enjoy being busy. Maybe I spend too much time writing when I should be making the most of this experience in Japan. Maybe writing is how I experience. I cannot imagine what this time in Japan would have been like 25 years ago, before the widespread use/existence of email, Facebook, Skype, and blogging. There are several other forms of online media that I rely heavily on almost every day. I do not know what it would be like to hand write letters to all of you as my form of correspondence. Needless to say, each update would be fewer and farther between.

Despite these massive communication networks that I take advantage of daily, the world grew slightly smaller the other day when I received a phone call from a friend in Japan. I knew it was his birthday and that we were going to have a surprise gathering at the bar that night. I also knew that he knew about this surprise engagement and that he had more or less taken over the responsibility of inviting people. The first thing he asked me though, was “do you know a guy named Vlad?” When I told him that I went to high school with a guy named Vlad, he told me that “he is sitting in his car.”

In celebration of Doug’s surprise birthday, which he knew about, I spent the night playing foosball with Vlad. He was pretty good too. I also ran into him again the next day in a ramen shop in Yumoto, where he was heading off to travel other parts of Japan. Vlad’s got a new apartment in Vancouver, so when I return, I’ve got a date to go drinking at his apartment.

Also, in keeping with the theme of Doug’s birthday and mass communications, Doug’s real birthday was yesterday and he is from New Orleans, which is also home to the New Orleans Saints. He also has access to watching football games online, so we spent last night watching New Orleans play Detroit.

This was my first time watching football with Americans and I learned that they know how to throw a football party. About 12 of us managed to fit ourselves into a room not much bigger than my kitchen area and we had munchies that surpassed any football party that I’ve ever been to – or thrown. I also learned that I did not know what guacamole should taste like until last night. We even got to watch a few football highlights where surprise, surprise, I saw Brett Favre throwing for the Minnesota Vikings! I’ve been in Japan for more than six weeks and that’s the most absurd thing that I’ve seen so far.

Anyway, I need to wrap this up, as I have a welcoming party that I need to go to – and I use the word ‘need’ in the sense that it is a social obligation, not in the sense that I ‘need’ any more alcohol to enter my poor bloodstream, because I don’t.