Halloween is not such an exciting holiday for me. Many of my Japanese friends still remember the Japanese exchange student that got shot on Halloween when he went knocking at the wrong house. Then there was some student here at UofI who got killed on Halloween a couple years ago, I think. I didn't really think about going out tonight, because I am not big on holidays, especially Halloween. However, someone suggested that I dress up in my traditional Japanese yukata and go out on the town. That sounded kinda fun, but I don't know where I would go. So, instead, I find myself here at the computer lab pretending to do work.
Speaking of work, I got my first job offer today. EDS. I was down there to see them on Tuesday and Wednesday. The office visit went all right. The weather was definitely beautiful down there. I had fun socializing with the other students, but I am not sure about the job. They offered me $36,000 which sounds like a lot. However, the job is 100% travel with lots of overtime. I would live on the road during the week. The company pays for everything which would make it easy to save up money, especially if I just crashed at a friend's place on weekends and never rented an apartment or anything. I think that could be a fun job, but I don't know if that is the best thing for me.
I am also getting some pretty positive readings from at least three of the Big Six. They are likely to offer me less money up front, but the raises and opportunities down the road are much greater. Who knows? What should I do? I have that first offer now, but I still don't feel any relief. I have at least four more office visits. That is a lot of time.
I have already skipped a bunch of classes and fallen behind in school work. The trip to Boston was cool. I talked to a few companies about opportunities in Japan and/or jobs with Japanese divisions here in the States. A couple companies promised to get back to me, but I haven't heard anything.
More importantly, I got to see my friends from Japan. I spent a lot of time with Eugene, because I stayed at his friend's place. A fraternity at Boston University. It was rather interesting. Not a very restful weekend. Both Friday and Saturday night they had parties upstairs. Eugene and I shared Chanda's bed in the basement. Yes, we spent lots of time together. I heard some girl walk in in the middle of the night (looking for the bathroom?). "Oh!" she exclaimed when she saw what she presumed to be two homosexuals sleeping together in the basement of the Delta Tau Delta house. Pretty funny.
I also had time to go out with the Waseda crowd for dinner at the Cheers bar in downtown Boston. It was pretty cool. The guide book doesn't really recommend the Bull and Finch (its real name) because it says it is nothing like the bar in the tv show. I disagree. I felt like it was a bar "where everyone would know your name" (if they weren't all tourists). We socialized there for a while.
Eugene and I spent the last night in the airport. He had an early flight, so we decided to just go sleep out there. I guess he got some studying done, but I just slept on the floor. Not the most comfortable place to sleep, but I can add that to the list of strange places I have camped out.
Still haven't finished reading "Into Thin Air." I expect to fall in more dangerously behind in life this coming week. I want to try to keep my journal up, though. So much going on. I haven't even had much time to think about the fact that my roommate, Gene's father passed away this past Sunday. Needless to say Gene has not been around this week, but I haven't either. People are just too busy for each other. At least I have some good friends I can call on. My host family sent me a nice letter and a video of Japanese tv programs today. I miss them. Another night alone...