新しい自転車！！！

Hey all, just got into the office today. Michelle, Jason and I went to コーナン (Conan's is a large department store like K-mart) to buy some things for around the house. While we were there, the ETC gave us a 10,000 yen allowance on bicycles, so we all got one we liked. Thanks Don! I bought a 20 inch tall folding bike, with a light and lock, while Jason and Michelle got larger basket bikes. I want to see if there is anyway I can fold up my bike and sneak it onto a train, then when I get to my destination, ride it around and explore. We're still not entirely sure where we can lock the bikes up legally, so we left them at the apartment today.

Last night I stayed in the office pretty late putting together some lanyard designs for Michelle and ETC Japan branding. You have to be careful here at night because the last train leaves at about 11:52 PM! We don't have any place to crash here at the ATC yet, so getting stuck could be very uncomfortable. Not to mention all of the tentacle monsters wandering around... Getting to the office from our apartment takes almost the entirety of a tram line (the New Tram line; ニュートラム), so walking or even taking a bike is a non-option. In the near future, our office will have partitions in the lounge area and some comfortable furniture which should allow us to sleep here if the need arises. There are also showers on the upper floors.



I'd like to take a moment and thank Yoshi (Josh Seaver) and Laura Pliskin for helping us get this campus under way. ETC Osaka and all of us wouldn't be here if it wasn't for these guys, so ありがとうございます! (v_v)

Despite the cold weather--It snowed again today!--things are going well here. Michael just got our printers working, love is in the air after Valentines Day, and we're making some good progress with our project. Pretty soon Ross, Ray Ray and Senator Wiksy will be coming here to visit. That'll be a fun time, but things'll be quiet here with just Julie, Jason and myself while the others are at GDC. Warm weather and a full team are on the way. I can't wait.

- Bennosuke