I took another test in Japanese class today. Japanese is still difficult, and it's a favorite question for Japanese people to ask me: "Is Japanese language difficult to learn?" I always answer yes, but if people compliment me on my language skills I feel happy because it's nice to receive some positive feedback.

My Business and Management in Japan class has become challenging for me. Our current unit is an overview of accounting, for which I have no background. However, I am working on a group project with three very kind classmates, one of whom is a fellow U of I student who majored in accounting, and the other two are studying abroad in conjunction with the Cologne Business School, so I am in very good hands. They are all very patient and help me out as I try to get the hang of the current ratio and equity ratio and other such equations that are completely foreign to me but apparently second-hand to those studying business.

This evening to celebrate the end of the week, students wanted to get together on the beach and grill some barbecue meat. We bought vegetables and packages of meat and brought them to the beach, but shortly after we arrived, beach security came over and told us we couldn't grill on the beach! We were so disappointed, but the grandfather of one of the Japanese students in the group happened to own a restaurant a few train stops away from the beach, and the student said we could bring our food there and the people in the restaurant would cook it for us! So we were still able to eat grilled meat and spend quality time with our friends.

We had an earthquake drill in class today, hence the picture of students crouching under desks. I also rode my friend Toru's motorcycle today! Don't worry, I wore a helmet while riding the motorcycle!