The Legendary Mike Penny.

We wake up early... too early. It's around six-thirty or so, and I am wide awake. What have they done to me? I've been up every day at this time, and it's getting easier, but I'm by no means used to it, and I'm positive that I will welcome the later hours with open arms when I get back.

The early hours of the day are spent training, and not much of interest occurs until later on, when the Legend himself arrives in town.

Kevin and I set down our instruments only to eat. And, with the temptation offered, we board the car with Yoko and Lou (Kevin's mother and father).

We go to a place called "Ku". I point out some coconut curry on the menu, which Lou cautions me is very hot; I'm feeling brave, so I proceed to order it despite that.

It arrived at the table, I eat it.. I'm not sweating, so it's not too bad. In fact, it's very delicious.

Once we wrap things up we head back home and and train some more.

The clock's hands neared the hour of two, signalling the imminent arrival of The Legend.

In the meantime, Kevin and I discuss our plan to play a practical joke on The Legend. In order to make this sound more entertaining for you faithful readers, I will go into some detail and give backstory to explain::

Inside of Kevin's parents' house, there is a large living space that is used as the common room 

and living area. Against the wall in this room, is a small door for a closet. One day I inquired as to what was in the closet, since this is my third year coming, and I have yet to discover what was inside. I opened it up to discover some cleaning supplies and a vacuum; it's a broom closet.

 Somewhat disappointed in this fact, I mused with Kevin that it would be funny to of opened the door, to be greeted by The Legend, Mike Penny or Masahiro. I think the rest of the story explains itself.

The car pulling out of the driveway, our plan goes into action.

Predictably, you could probably guess what happens next. The bulk of the action involves me sitting in a closet for fifteen minutes while Kevin and his family said I was at the convenience store getting beer.

Needless to say, The Legend, Mike Penny was super surprised and we all laughed... 

Yup, that's about as interesting as I can make it.

After the standard hello-how-do-you-do, The Legend, Mike Penny and I expressed our interest in withdrawing

 money from an ATM nearby. The usual practice while we are staying with

 Kevin's parents in Misawa is to get our money on base (due to the fact that there are minimal fees associated with the withdrawal and the exchange rate is accurate).

Anyway, so we did that, but once we got our money, Yoko dropped The Legend and I off at the dog park nearby with the Yuki-chan (the Beach Fox), while she ran some errands.

She hopped, skipped, and ran around, and sniffed some other dogs. We even found a ball to

 throw for her. Meanwhile, The Legend and I attempted some white boy free-style dueling.. it was... uh... interesting.

Once that was wrapped up, Kevin, The Legend (Mike Penny), and I, all went to the park and and practiced for a little while. We did a couple songs all together to entertain the people there, but we weren't

 particularly aiming to please anyone at the time. Lanters hung from all the trees around, and as the sky darkened, the lit up.. it was very beautiful and Japanese.

As for the rest of the night, all I can really say is that there was a lot more Shamisen playing involved, in fact, most of it by myself.

Yuppers.