I don't know why it is, but cheeseburgers at Japanese McDonalds are quite good! I was so used to the one-level-above-cardboard cheeseburgers at American McD's that my first bite of one here was almost a shock to my system! The meat actually has a taste, something I'd place in the soy-sauce-salty range of flavors. It's not overwhelming, either, and two of them make a damned fine lunch in my opinion. Unsurprisingly, everything else about the burgers is the same, from the bun to the pickles to those finely-diced onions that I've never been a fan of; it makes these cheeseburgers not only nostalgic, but tasty to boot!

どうしてかどうか分からないけれども、日本のマックドナルドのチーズバーガーすごいおいしい！アメリカのマックのチーズバーガーの味はダンボールのよう な味だと思う。だから、私は日本のマックの最初のチーズバーガを食べたら、びっくりした！バーガーの肉は味があって、しょうゆのような味だと思った。誰かは 二つのこのチーズバーガーを食べるといいご飯だよね！しかも、色々な日本のマックのバーガーのことはアメリカのマックのバーガーと同じだ。漬物とかバンとかオ ニオンとか、全部のバーガーに入れられることが同じだと思う。だから、ここのマックのチーズバーガーはなつかしで、おいしい。

I've picked up a part-time job recently. ICU has four gates into the campus, two of which have info boxes that are manned by members of either men's dorms. My dorm, First Men's Dorm (1MD), handles the West gate, so a couple times a week I got and sit in the box for two and a half hours and polish off some homework. It doesn't pay much, ¥800 an hour, but with the current state of the economy back home and the ever rising power of the Yen (or decreasing strength of the US Dollar), I can't afford to live solely off the money I pull from my bank account back home. This'll also give me some spending money with which to buy things for the my family and friends back home!

最近、私はアルバイトを見つけた。国際基督教大学では四つの門がある。二つの門の小屋には男子寮生が入っている。私の寮、つまり第一男子寮、は西門の責任がある。毎週二回で二時間半に、私は西門の小屋に入って、宿題をする。時給は800円なのでよくない。だけど、ドルが弱くなったので、私のアメリカの口座から引き出すお金だけで私は住めない。しかも、私の家族と友達は私に日本のおみやげをもらわれる！

It's been raining all day...this weather is as weird as California's. At least in California it doesn't get as cold. Here, the temperatures are routinely in the single-digits Celsius (right now it's ~7C outside, ~48F), and it's only going to get colder and December marches on. Thankfully, the heaters in the dorm were turned on weeks ago, and I've learned how to bundle up to not freeze to death when I go outside!

今日雨が降っちゃた。冬の天気は私の出身のような天気だ。でもカリフォニアでは天気がより寒くない。今、気温は七度ぐらい。新年に来ていながら、天気がもっと寒くなって来ている。でも、私の部屋のラジエーターが一ヶ月ぐらいの前から点けてあるし、凍え死ねないように出かけるとたくさん服を着るのを覚えた！

The second week of Winter quarter is going well. Fall quarter went quite well, as I received a B in my Japanese language course and an A in my Contemporary Japanese Culture class. I'm taking three classes this quarter, and this quarter's Japanese class (J4) is quite exciting because it focuses on teaching us a lot of Kanji and vocabulary, as well as some of the more nuanced grammar that requires a solid grasp of the basic stuff learned in Japanese 2 and 3. I'm also taking a Religion in Japan course and a course on Asian International Relations. Exciting stuff!

冬学期はよかっただね！秋学期の成績もよかった。日本語の授業、つまりJ3、でBをつけたし、日本の（）同時代の文化の授業でAをつけたから！今学期のJ4の授業がたくさん漢字と言葉を覚えられて、もっと難しくても面白い文保を覚えられるので、この授業は本当に興奮させる！今学期で日本の宗教とアジア国際関係も私につけられる。楽しみよ！

My Japanese continues to improve. I've made quite a lot of progress in the five months since I took my first stepped off the plane at Narita. I know enough grammar to maintain surprisingly high-level conversations with friends and teachers, and my knowledge of kanji continues to expand; I always get a kick out of being able to read kanji and recognize their reading and meaning! I still have a long way to with kanji and vocabulary, though, but I keep learning new things every day, so I'm sure that in six more months' time I'll have improved even more.

私の日本語が上手になってきている。日本に来てから、習った文保で私は友達と先生と普通の会話できるようになったし、毎日新しい漢字を習う。漢字を読めて意味が分かったら、私はうれしくなる！でも、私はまだ日本語を勉強している。アメリカに帰るまで、私の日本語がもっと得意になられるようだ。

See you next time, folks!

じゃ、また今度！

P.S.: This article was written five days ago, but caroling practice and translation prevented me from getting it up earlier. If you're reading this and wondering why I said it was raining today, there's your reason!