It's Official; I've Driven to Fairbanks WAY Too Often.

I went to help the Alaska/English study group I've been aiding (have I mentioned that in the blog yet? I think so... bunch of Education majors who want to visit Alaska) today, and it turned out that today was slated for a slideshow of pictures taken by a group of students who went to Alaska in October. The slideshow started with pictures of the Glenn and Parks Highways, since they had been lucky enough to have a perfectly clear day for the drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

I knew exactly where EVERY SINGLE ONE of those pictures had been taken.

Hey, that's just past the Boniface exit. And that's around the bend from Fort Richardson. Oh, they're about to see the South Peter's Creek sign. And that is about five minutes before Healy.

This, combined with the pictures of UAF's Japan-Alaska Club's happenings (whose direct photo-ees included Ben, Ben, Linda, Tom, Steven, and Ed) made me a bit homesick. :'( It also stiffened my resolve to make sure I can attend the club meetings this year; in the past they have always occurred when I am working.

Yesterday after posting in the blog, I also had the unexpected chance to see a play for free. It was a four-man play, about 40 minutes long, and an advertizement for the drama club I didn't know existed. And all their rehearsals happen in the evenings. Like, after classes and sadoubu. So I can probably do it, too. :D YES!

:( I had a Realization of the Period I wanted to do today, and I can't for the life of me remem... OH YEAH!

Realizations of the Period

1) In America, people tend to carry debit and credit cards to pay for things because they feel it isn't safe to carry cash. In Japan, it's not just a matter of theft not happening as often that makes people not want to use credit cards. They actually think using credit cards is unsafe -- you don't know how many people will see your information. So they don't want to use them at all. (This explains why Amazon.co.jp has the oh-so-convenient COD method listed first in their checkout for domestic orders.)