Japan - Day 13

Today's had its ups and downs, but on the whole it's been pretty good ^^
For starters, it rained today :-O Apparently we're getting a bit of a monsoon or something. When I woke up it wasn't too bad - I still wore my shorts -_- I went across and got my breakfast from the 100-yen store as usual, then took the bus to the International Students Centre where I met Jen (who was about 15 minutes late) so we could check about switching Japanese classes. The Japanese teacher wouldn't let me explain in English that I wanted to switch, so I had to explain in Japanese, which actually wasn't too bad. Though when she wouldn't let me help Jen explain her problem, it was a little awkward ><>< Afterwards, Katherine told me about a get-together in the evening at 7, and that she'd contact me via Facebook in the evening, which cheered me up some after the test disaster ^^'
Anyways, I then went back to the lab where I commenced on diluting down my DNA from yesterday and doing a PCR. Well, it took me a while to get my head around the numbers and the procedure, but eventually I got it after a lot of awkward pauses and trying to remember Japanese words for 'dilution' and 'measurement'. However, I was very aware of the time. By the time the PCR was finally up and running, it was 5.30 already, so I was allowed to leave for the night and do the gel tomorrow morning, so I hurried out into the rain and made my way to the ISC as fast as I could to get on the computer. Once I finally made contact with my friends, I discovered where I had to be and when. By this time it was about 6.05, so I had 55 minutes to get to my room, dry off, change and get the bus up to Ichinoya.
After making it back to my dorm in what must have been record time, stripping down and drying off, I realised that my bag was wet - the stuff inside had become damp around the edges. Cursing, I laid it all out on my bed to dry a little before getting changed. Not wanting to be worrying all evening about my paperwork, I decided that what's done is done and I couldn't do anything about it, so I'd just go out and enjoy :-) I went across to the bus stop (wearing my Heroes hoodie which I soon decided was surplus to requirements) and then headed up to Ichinoya. Unfortunately the bus took a turn that it doesn't normally take, so I got off at the TARA Centre bus stop and had to walk a little way up the road before I reached the Ichinoya community centre, where I met the other people going out for the evening
Now, here's where the fun started. For starters, we couldn't decide where to eat. In the end we decided to check out the eateries in Tsukuba Centre (though I felt a bit guilty for the two who hadn't bought bus passes yet). When we got there, we started scouring the malls for a place to eat. However, on the way around, I did find two very nice shops - a fairly big book shop, and a store that sells video games :-D I was about to ask the attendant if they were going to be selling Pokémon Black and White on September 18th, but then I saw a poster behind her and said 'It's okay, thank you very much' before walking away feeling a little embarrassed ^^'
We spent the next half an hour or so walking around, finding that most of the places were closing at 8 (it was about 8 at the time) and the rest were really expensive. After much deliberation, we decided to stop at a burger place, where we got some tiny burgers along with fries and a drink. Still, it tasted good ^^
After eating, we got back on the bus and then headed back to the dorms, so now here I am with my (reasonably) dry book about to start preparing for tomorrow's lesson :-) Then I'll chill a little and get some sleep. Night all :-)