“Hello friends. Dogen here.

I’m living in paradise without one vital important resource – the internet. I have access, but it’s through a computer that looks older than me, has a Japanese keyboard, and rests on a cabinet with no chair. Yes, there is no chair.

Thus, I’m currently blogging on my old computer. By the time you guys have started reading this, I’ll have found a way to access the world wide web. Nice.

So, with that out of the way, what the hell is up with me?! Well, like I said I’ve moved OUT of the dorm and IN to a house. I’m living in the grace of the Saitou family. Mom, dad, 7 year old boy, 2 year old ridiculously adorable border collie (DOG). Got my own room, access to a real Japanese bath, and a multitude of more delicious home made Japanese food than anyone could ask for. I quote my host dad directly, “”Do you know what it means to hold back? We don’t do that here. We don’t need that here.”" Brilliant. Dad is helping me find a local gym and mom is going to costco to buy protein. NAISU.

That, and everything is in Japanese! Aside from dinner with my girlfriend a couple days ago, I’ve been literally running my mouth off in Japanese for the past 72 hours. I’m dreaming in Japanese, waking up in Japanese, bathing in Japanese, and eating in Japanese. When I think, I do it unconsciously in Japanese. しかも、I’m here until August! I’ve already noticed a ridiculous progress in the past 4 days, I can’t imagine how things will be when I fly home.

So, while I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the dorm, and made some terrific friends, this is much more what I had in mind before leaving the states, which is neat. In other news, I still haven’t listened to anything but the Sakura Bossa album since purchasing it.

By the way, living without the web is actually quite nice. I encourage all readers to completely unplug themselves for 2 days – you’ll be amazed at the amount of free time that was hiding right behind your monitor. That is…if you can actually tear yourself away for 48 hours…!!!

Today I’ll go to Minato Mirai Yokohama and search for the world’s next best coffee shop. 頑張る。

Train hard!”