January 1 - 23

Unfortunately, at least as far as this journal is concerned, January was a pretty uneventful month. My office gave me 30 days of paid sick leave, which means that all of the vacation time that I had taken off to go to Kyoto was given back to me. Towards the beginning of the month, my friend Jason came to visit and keep my company as I begin my jailtime in the apartment. Other than me not being able to get out and do anything, we had a great time. That's a picture of him and his friend on the day he returned back to his town.

Other than that visit, my month mostly consisted of hospital visits every so often and a lot of video games. My cast was removed on the 22nd and I began rehabilition at that time. I will have to continue rehabilition weekly for a while. The picture on the right was taken after the cast was off, so please forgive my dry, disgusting feet.

January 24

Today was my first day back to work, it was pretty uneventful other than my slow walking to and from the train station.

January 26

Today was the Asahikawa International Committee's International Cooking Day. This year's theme was American cuisine. I helped out by trying to teach about 50 people Japanese people how to make mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, and cole slaw. Also made that day were stuffed roasted chicken, clam chowder, and baked apple dessert. Everything turned out delicious! (Excuse these pictures, it was right after getting my cast off and I desperately needed a haircut.)
Move over Martha Stewart (or am I more like Julia Child?)	Enjoying our food
After the cooking, I went and got a haircut. I think the guy was trying to give me the David Beckham/Lyle Lovitt hairstyle. Oh well, I really like the haircut, just not the way he styled it.