Another entertaining trip to Colorado this year, full of snowboarding, partying, and relaxing. Went with some family, like last time, and rented a four-bedroom house near downtown Frisco. The trip there wasn’t without any hitches though, as the airline somehow lost my younger brother’s suitcase, which made us miss the shuttle to Frisco. We did eventually get there (very) late at night, and his luggage was recovered the next evening.

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During most of 2001 I was working as waiter on a Mississippi-style stern-wheeler named “Michigan”; located on Lake Biwa, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. This was my first time in Japan, and I along with the sixteen other people in my group were taking classes and working as on the boat as a part of an exchange program (named “The Japan Adventure Program”). Our duties there consisted of waiting tables, cleaning up, selling trinkets, and posing with old ladies for pictures—kind of like the costumed characters in Disneyland do. The boat would do four cruises per day, each around 90 minutes long, and then return back to port to unload the passengers. During most evenings the Michigan would depart on an extra two-hour “showboat” dinner cruise. Each of the students on the program were scheduled to work at least a few showboats every month.

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