There was a surprising array of food, most of which were prepared by the students, local and international alike. And they were all delicious, from the curry to the guacamole to the crepes... As I was busy attacking the main course, I missed out on dessert. :(

It probably isn't a Japanese thing, and probably is for our benefits, but it seems that most events we attend, we write our names on a sticky label and stick it on ourselves. It rather reminds me of primary school or something, but I suppose it is rather useful when you've forgotten someone's name and don't want to go through the embarrassment of asking him/her for an introduction yet again.

This party was really enjoyable. It wasn't as if we had a lot of awesome activities, or anything like that, but compared to our first Hoshien party (the welcome party), it feels like everyone's more settled. We're more content to wander around on our own getting food, returning to our friends for a quick chat, then making the rounds once again, as opposed to sticking to that one or two friends which we had previously. It can probably be attributed to knowing more people by now, and there's an increased sense of familiarity. Or is it that we've been around long enough to be comfortable striking up a conversation with a new face as well? I liked it, because there were more people I was closer to, and I never felt left out or anything like that. Attending functions and getting to know people from scratch, or getting to know them better, it's pretty good. :)

When we shifted to Scott Hall for the next round of activities, I was pretty happy to enter the church for the first time, instead of peeping at people's weddings from the toilet window. Then when there was a spotlight on a man standing at the podium in front, I felt a sense of trepidation. I feel uncomfortable if I have to attend any kind of church service, or preaching... It turns out he was a priest or something, which was kinda uhhh -.- for me, but at least he didn't talk for too long. There was another lady reading some Christian verses or something, but it was short too, thank goodness for small mercies. I'm a free thinker, so it's not that bad, but I wonder if the Buddhists/Muslims were okay with it. Hmm.

Anyhow, I like candles, so I was happy once again when we got to light the ones that were placed on our seats. Candles are so pretty, and their small flames give off meagre warmth and light, but they create the most awesome ambience.

Christmas gift exchange was great, because I got lucky and got a Rilakuma soft toy! I'm not usually into soft toys, but this is big enough to use as a cushion (sy, pillow for you when you come! =p ) and what I got is so much better than some friends, one of whom got like 6 marshmallows poorly wrapped in the plastic wrap we use to keep leftover food. Yj thinks the giver snitched it from the table at dinner. That's so crappy! It's unfair, especially if my friend gave a good present. What to do? Shit happens.

Because we're on a stupid-photo-taking spree, this is what we did to Rilakuma when we returned to the dorm:

All in all, I enjoyed the party a lot! The play put up by the Japanese students was funny, but most of the time we didn't know what was going on. I just had to wince when the two guys (one dressed as a girl, and my, was he sexy!) kissed, mouth to mouth - more than once! I can hardly imagine doing that with a good girl friend, and somehow the eek factor is higher when it involves two guys. So yeah, anyhow, since the whole event started early and ended early, I invited myself to yj's room and stayed there for about 3.5hours. Thank you for entertaining me! :)