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The Japanese word on my last message was wrong. It is "seitenkan," which means sex change. Today is Halloween. Last night I went to a Halloween party for children (it was a special event, because Halloween is not celebrated here). The first group that came into our haunted house was a bunch of little kids: kindergarten and first graders. They weren't very scared. In fact, both Jon and I got beat up. My costume suffered greatly. Someone took the eyes off my mask, and 2 kids kept pulling on my wings and mangling them. I can't believe how many times I was hit. Jon and had to play games with them for about an hour, and let me tell you that I was beat! They are hard to entertain. They kept touching everything in the room. But I am amazed how many times they can play "karuta" (a Japanese picture-card game, where I say a word, a the children have to slap the card I say). I was so glad when it was over. After that, there was a group of 5th graders. They weren't as cute in their costumes, but they were more scared and were easier to control. No one tried to beat me up in this group. We played "karuta" and memory, and gave out lots of candy. Had a great time, but I am glad it was only a 3 hour affair. I was pooped. Tonight there is a Halloween party, organized by the JETs of Gunma. Should be a good time. We have planned games and prizes and such. Hope people come. There are many things going on tonight. Plus, a few days ago we changed the night club where the party will be. We had originally planned for it to be a "The Jungle Club" in Maebashi, but the owner said he was making renovations, and not to worry because he would call us when they were finished. Steph, the organizer of all this, hadn't heard from him, so she went to the club. The owner wasn't there, but she talked to a neighbor. The neighbor hadn't seen any activity in the place since the "renovations" had begun, so he suggested that the place had closed down. Great. So we had 3 days to find a new place. Valerie Straayer |