We Should Always Know That We Can Do Anything.

Well, whether or not you were for or against them, the US was certainly full of remarkable changes tonight, wasn't it? Gay marriage legalized in two states, the reclaiming of a Democratic advantage in the Senate, a variety of other things, and, last but certainly not least, the re-election of President Obama. I can finally un-stick myself from all the internet popularity-tracking polls that I have been glued to for the past month and a half. I'm sure that my friend from New Zealand, whom I've been spending much of my time with lately, will appreciate that, although I did manage to get her interested in the election. 
Anyway, I hope everyone voted, and for whomever they saw best! I voted from halfway across the world, so do you have an excuse? 
Yes, not being American and/or being under 18 count as valid excuses. But otherwise. 
Voting is great. You should all participate.

Anyway, I've had a fairly hectic week, and subsequently have things to tell you all about! 
We'll start with... Probably Saturday. I had Thursday and Friday off, and spent Thursday and part of Friday sleeping. Catching up on my sleep debt, you see. Friday I talked to a friend of mine on Skype and doing my laundry, but that is trivial information that no one wants to hear about. 
Oh, I also tried my own hand at making some Thai-based soup from scratch. Did pretty well, I think. Coconut-spicy-chicken or something. Ate that and watched Sherlock Holmes (with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law) with her. 

Saturday was the university fair. For some reason, universities and schools all have yearly cultural festivals of some kind, and it mostly seemed to me to be clubs raising money by selling some kind of wares and involved live music and carnival food.
I didn't stay for long--I mostly went to go support my friend in the art club--but I did manage to take a look around afterwards. 
Took some photos, so here you go:

This was my friend's artwork. 

Native birds of New Zealand. She's pretty fantastic at realism and watercolour.

They were all good, but of course, I wanted to play favouritism. 

And.

I asked for permission to put her stuff up here, so don't worry.

Lady drummer!

I have a huge respect for women who play the drums.

I would love to be able to.

People.

More people.

Once we walked around for a while (and stopped taking photos), we found massive amounts of clubs selling various food items. It was fun, but after a while we grew bored and so my friend and I decided to take a trip to Machida. 
I couldn't afford to buy much, but it was nice to just get out of the house and local area for a time. I did manage to buy myself a new beret, and we went out for coffee.

One of the shops sold these hourglasses, and so we flipped them all over and giggled.

Because

We are secretly children.

My coffee.

Caramel flavoured, with just a dash of paradise.

Mine and my friend's stuff together.

Afterwards, we finally found the Mexican restaurant. 
The waiter was really sweet, and asked us a few questions once he found out that we were learning Japanese, and we had a lovely little conversation.
But.
More importantly.
The food.
Granted, it was of a "cleaner" variety, as opposed to honest-to-goodness greasy Mexican food, it's the closest I've gotten in 7 months to real Mexican food.
And it was delicious. 

Nachos with chili con carne. 

That was honest to goodness chili and not pretend taco-filling on top of fries.

Good job, Japan. You did it right.

And I also tried my first margarita.

Not bad at all. 

Pico-de-gallo! 

It, too, was fantastic.

My friend's beef taco.

And spicy chicken.

Saturday night I found myself unable to sleep, so I spent most of Sunday doing just that, and Monday was saved for homework and lounging about with a friend of mine in his dorm room while we initially attempted to study, but wound up staying up late and talking about... Various things, mainly. 

Tuesday was spent with me stressing out over the election polls and getting absolutely nothing accomplished. I tried to go to bed early, but between my nap and the stress over the election, I was unable to sleep that night. 

But today! Today, besides being incredibly disorganized and all over the place, was wonderful.
I am something of a leftist swinging something, so today was a huge victory for me in the election.
I apologise to those who do not feel the same way.

Anyway, I celebrated with hamburgers, corndogs, and french fries. 

Delicious America.

The two friends I had over approved, as well.

And now I am listening to music and typing this. 
So, I will end it here. 
And happy election day. 
And. I will talk to you all next week.

OH. Money saving tip. 
Wait until the exchange rate is good and withdraw money all at once.
It's better than withdrawing and losing money on bad exchange days.

So, until next Wednesday! I'll have pictures from Fuji and Shinjuku!
Toodles!

-RD