August 23, 2004 - One Year Later...

Well, I'll keep it short. A year wasn't enough, as there are still a million things I want to see and do before this trip is over. So, I'm staying on for another.

Other than deciding to stay, the only other big news for the summer of 2004 is that I just passed my Kendo rank test. I'm now a Sho-dan, which is basically the same thing as a black-belt in karate, but we don't wear a belt. I'm also quite worn out, as it required approximately 90 hours of practice over the last 6 weeks to get ready for the exam. I lost 8 pounds in the process... Tired.