I guess this started when my friend Asuna invited Satomi and me to come sleep over at her condo. Asuna is a sparky lass, a year younger than us, smart enough, but she has this sort of wide-eyed innocence about her. She looks very Japanese, sleek creamy skin, narrow eyes with mysterious wisps of hair almost like antennae floating at her temples. Satomi is mor...
In the summer after my sophomore year at Oceanview U., I got a message from a guy I used to know, Yoshi, back in Japan. Yoshi had slender eyes and a deep tan, but a broad smile that made you want to smile too. He was the life of every party, but I mostly knew him from swimming in high school. He was one of the best swimmers on our school's team. I swam for t...
When I moved to California to go to college, I left behind a boyfriend of sorts in Japan. His name was Tomoyuki. He had spiky black hair and sharp features, but I found him attractive at the time anyway. We were both busy preparing for entrance exams, so we'd mostly just study together, but one day he asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said yes. We didn't...
When my sister Norika came to visit me in Oceanview, I found out that she doesn't like to wear nighties to bed. She didn't bring any with her, and even though I live with an American family, she didn't seem keen on putting one on. I had a real time of it trying to keep her from flashing the host son, Brandon, and the mother's boyfriend, Hank. Up until then,...
Last fall, Oceanview University's Japanese Student Union organized a barbecue on this grassy field on campus near the cliffs. I think Ayumi was probably the one who first suggested it. She's a cute girl, bright and cheerful. I knew her a little bit from playing drums together at Orientation. She kind of has her own circle of friends, but I invited my boyfrie...
Hi again. It's me, Emi. Sorry It's been so long since I've written but I kind of had a busy summer, and then it was back to school. Things have settled down a bit now so maybe I can start to bring you up to date. So much has happened I hardly know where to start. I guess I should go in order. There's one story I haven't told you about last winter, before I...
It was summer in Oceanview, and the day of the big fireworks show was fast approaching. I was pretty excited actually. When I lived in Japan, we always used to go to see the fireworks show on Zaimokuza beach near my house or Katase Shirahama near my Aunt Sachi's place. It's a big thing, and tons of people come down from Tokyo just to watch. Fireworks make it...
I think this all happened in the autumn of my freshman year at Oceanview U. in California. I was living in a home stay with an American family, Loretta and her two kids, while my best friend, another Japanese girl named Satomi, was living on campus in a dormitory. Satomi was not really a party person, but maybe she just hadn't gotten into it yet. She's a rea...
Hi, it's Emi here. So much happened over the summer, I don't know if I'm ever going to get around to telling you everything, but anyway, I'm going to try. I guess the biggest news is right at the end of the summer, Ryosuke and I rented a car and took a trip down the coast for a couple of nights. It was our first trip alone together, and so we did a whole bun...
It was August, and I was back in Japan visiting my family before university started again in the fall. Japan hadn't changed. My dad was still off at work most of the time, but my mom seemed happy to have me back. She took me into town to go shopping. While we were there, we ran into our next door neighbor, Mrs. Tanaka, and her son, Takuhiro. When I used to...