雨。

I love rain.  I love the kanji for rain, too.  To me, it looks like a window with raindrops going down it.  From last night until now, it's been raining off and on in Tokyo and it's been beautiful.  It hasn't been like the giant storms that I'm used to in Missouri, but more intermittent and calm - even when it's pouring.  The best part is that I get to watch it rain from my balcony.  I feel like I have box seats at a show, except no one realizes that they are stage because no one looks up.

Watching the people in the rain is the best part.  The sound of the droplets hitting the buildings and streets around me is very calming and soothing, but the people are just neat.  The vast majority are 100% prepared for the rain.  The women always carry an umbrella on them, come rain or shine.  My assumption is that umbrellas are more fashionable than wearing sunscreen and if you have it with you, it serves the other function of being prepared for rain, should it happen.  The men don't use umbrellas in the sun, but they usually have them in the rain.  I just enjoy watching all of the umbrellas beneath me, filling the sidewalks.  It's like watching a dance, seeing them just miss each other when passing closely or while walking near each other.

Today I got to meet my Language Exchange Partner.  I have been looking forward to this day ever since I first learned about it this summer.  I had imagined every possibility, but I still managed to be surprised(albeit pleasantly).  In Japanese, there is no pluralization of nouns.  If you say there are nine people, it literally comes out as something like "it is nine person."  Basically, they tie the number nine to the amount of people, and the fact that it's plural is assumed.  So, when I had been told that I was getting a "Partner,"  I took this to mean that I would get one person to help me.  As it turns out, they took the word "partner" and used the meaning that it would put us into a group together.  I have four partners.  I didn't get to meet one of them, but it was still cool to meet them.

If any of that previous paragraph is wrong, feel free to correct me.  That's just the only reason I can see for the strangeness of the whole partner situation.