One more week until Sean arrives! I've been pestering him with constant Skype calls and peppering him with questions about his fun time in Holland so I can live vicariously through him until he gets here. Unless he's telling a story with a beer in hand, Sean is not exactly a huge talker so our Skype calls consist of me trying to get every descriptive detail that I can out of him with him usually responding with one word answers. It's maddening and I'm quite sure that he knows it drives me nuts.
Last weekend he went on a canoeing/kayaking brewery tour in Northern Michigan which included camping, games and general shenanigans with friends all while in matching ladies denim sleeveless tops. But the big trip is next weekend. All the other fellows always ask why Sean isn't here yet and I have to attempt to explain the un-missable annual tradition of the Mackinaw boys' trip. Since one of the many rules of the trip is no wives/girlfriends and another rule is no telling said partners of the goings-on, I'm mostly in the dark and at a loss to explain the events and activities of Mackinaw when I'm asked about it. Knowing the participants involved and extrapolating from past events, I can only imagine that the weekend includes, costumes, games, obnoxious debauchery and some kind of obsession with pirates? I usually give a tame answer saying that they go camping with the purpose of male bonding, an answer that satisfies most but is probably not nearly as colorful or representative as the real thing.
This past week I've done a lot of the time-consuming and less fun activities that a transition into graduate school abroad requires. I've moved into married housing, stood in line to pay a variety of bills, figured out how to rent a fridge and have it delivered, attended countless school-wide and Rotary orientation meetings and events, sat through a four hour opening convocation in the chapel and am gearing up for a day of registration tomorrow. One would think that a modern and developed country like Japan would have universities equipped with class registration online with a click of a button. This is not the case and my day tomorrow consists of printing out paper copies of possible schedules, meeting with an advisor for signatures and then getting more signatures and showing my ID card to the graduate office for final approval, all while standing in line because everyone else is doing the same thing on the one, single day that registration is open. Should be a thrilling process. Perhaps I should learn from Sean and throw on a costume (or five) to liven things up. Happy weekend!
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