Today is a rainy and dreary day. Yesterday was pretty much the same, but tomorrow should clear up and the temperature will be pretty nice as well. I don't know if we were in a drought or not before yesterday, but it felt like we hadn't had rain in a very long time, so this rainfall was probably pretty necessary. I don't mind a nice rain or thunderstorm every once in a while, but I didn't have an umbrella for most of the past two days. きょうはだいがくの本やでかさをかいました。

This week I haven't slept very well which is strange because I haven't had very many bad night's of sleep in quite a long time. I don't know if it's mid-semester stress or what, but I'm glad this weekend is here, with or without the rain.

A good blog post is one in which may ensue in an open discussion about a particular topic. An interesting post will allow other people to read the blog and actually desire to respond to what you have to say. If people just write the same boring things over and over or complain about things most of the time, no one will have any increased pleasure from reading or posting comments to your blog. Discussion topics such as what is on your mind, asking for help on particular subjects, materials pertaining to what we are currently learning in class, or far and distant topics like what you did over the summer may all be interesting for readers to read about.

こんにちは、
きょうは金曜日ですよ。きょうのばんはともだちのアパートでパーティをします。ヒップ・ホップのおんがくをききます。ともだちのアパートがわたしのうちのそばにあります。十時にいきます。

あした十二時十五分にユー・ホールへいきます。ユー・ホールがジョン・ポール・ジョーンズのとなりがあります。バージニアだいがくのバンドとフット・ボールのティムはメヤリンドへいきます。ESPNでごご八時にフット・ボールのゲームがありますね。ごぜん三時にかえります。それから、わたしはかぞくのうちへいきます。ごご一時にテレビでフット・ボールのゲームをみます。おかあさんのばんごはんをたべます。おいしいですよ。かぞくのうちは三十分にいきます。

Today was the chapter 3 test in Japanese. I feel I did pretty well on it. It amazes me how much Japanese we have learned in this short period of time. In high school it took so much longer to learn as much as we have so far. This time for me is quite busy. I feel a bit overwhelmed this weekend with the football game (marching band), two midterms Monday, and a paper that is due this week. I have postponed some of these things too long and have made accomplishing them more difficult for myself. I think if I had taken more advantage of the time that I had last weekend then I wouldn't be as burdened right now. Sometimes it's hard to do work when it all comes down to the same weekend that so much is due because I'm used to it being more paced out over the rest of the semester. I just hope that after this weekend I catch back up and keep up with my work better than I have been so far!

This weekend here at good 'ol Uni-V-Vir-gin-i-a is fall break. As most students, from the northern areas of the Old Dominion, Richmond area, or other parts tend to return home for this four day weekend to visit their parents, I will be staying here in C-ville with most out-of-staters and other people who just didn't feel like spending the time and money on that train ticket or other means of transport. However, I only live a convenient 30 minutes away and will be returning home at least once this weekend for a delicious home cooked meal. Being the nice guy that I am, I often bring friends home to my かぞく either just for dinner or if I know that they live much farther away and are not as fortunate to live in a commuting county to Charlottesville. Hint: get on my good side, convince me to like you, and maybe you can ride up in my decade old Crown Vic for some very good food or a bass fishing boat ride on Greene Mountain Lake. That's, by the way, another thing I might do this weekend during fall break (before it gets too cold). I might also head down to Williamsburg to, as the folks down there would say, the original university of Virginia. I'll be visiting some old high school friends whom I haven't seen in quite some time. Anyways, with all of that useless knowledge that very little people could possibly utilize, I hope you all do obtain as much utility from this "reading weekend as you can." Keep up with the studies and use this time to catch back up in classes, the beginning of the year came quick and the rest will only come quicker. So, especially to first years, just keep ahead and you'll do fine! But have fun as well, of course!