Where are all the California Rolls??

Today has been pretty interesting, probably one of the most eventful days here so far. One of the English teachers showed me around Maebashi, which is the capital of Gunma Prefecture. For lunch, he took me to a revolving sushi bar. I've never eaten so many different types of raw fish in my life. He made my try one type of sushi that had some sort of fermented bean inside. It tasted like rotten cheese! I seriously wanted to gag and throw up, but I just had to swallow and wash it down with a lot of green tea. Mental note: stay away from "natto".

When we got back to school, three of the students said they wanted to meet me. They were hilarious. I would ask them a question and they would look at me blankly and say "Excuse me--thinking time please". Then they would all gather in a group and come back to me with a joint response. Then they'd ask me questions like "Do you like Pokemon?" They even drew me a picture of a Japanese Sanrio character because I said I didn't know who he was. They were really cute.

On a completely different note, I went to visit my principal at the technical high school that I have to teach at. The first thing he said to me was: "I'm afraid you will find it very difficult here. The students do not like English." Yikes.

I'm going for a bike ride shortly with my friend (yay, I have a friend!). She's Canadian too and she lives in the building next to mine. I warned her about my minimal biking abilities. Hopefully all will go well...