Thunder Dolphin

On Monday, since we had the day off, Lauren and I met John to go into Tokyo. John is a guy that is here visiting from Connecticut, but used to live in Japan, so he knows Japanese. (You can actually see him pictured in the fireworks pictures.) Anyway, he kept insisting that we needed to go on some roller coaster by the Tokyo Dome. I like roller coasters and all, but I've never been on one that made me insist everyone I know ride it, so I didn't know what all the hype was about. Plus, it cost 1,000 yen ($10) to ride--who pays that to ride a roller coaster? Anyway, we went a few other places first, but eventually made it to THUNDER DOLPHIN. (That is the name of the coaster.) We got our tickets, then jumped in line. It wasn't too long of a wait, but there were enough people waiting to make it seem like a decent attraction. Well, let me tell you, this was probably the coolest roller coaster ever. It went so high--we could see so much of Tokyo. It was an awesome view. The ride itself was great too. The Japanese really know how to build a good coaster. I wish I could share the picture that was taken during the ride. If I find someone with a scanner, I'll put it up for sure. If any of you come to visit, I'll take you on it too. It's SO worth it.
After that, John let Lauren and I shop (what we do best) then we had dinner at Bubba Gump. It was so nice to have a typical American meal. Oh yes, mashed potatoes are so good!

On Tuesday, we had to lead a seminar for Elementary school teachers. It was actually fun. We practiced some conversational English with them, then played games. They all seemed to enjoy it and hopefully they'll use some of the games in their classroom.

Today (Wednesday) I went to Kayada, which is the jr. high I'll be at starting Sept. 1st. I helped a few of the kids work on their speeches for the speech contest for a few hours. I really love the teachers there. I'm excited about work starting soon, even if that means less beach time. It will be good to get into a normal schedule at least.

Ok, and to answer many of your questions about my refrigerator real quick...The top is the freezer. The middle 2 are the refrigerator sections. Then bottom is a pull out freezer drawer. I don't even begin to use all that space. It just came with the place, but I think it adds character, don't you?

Alright, I'm out...time for dinner