unexpected invite

my cellphone is a relic. in the japanese world of phones, an antique. japanese people seem to always be buying a new phone; they want the one with the latest technology that let's them take 5megapixel photos, download music, watch tv and a slew of other functions that are a mystery to me. no, i don't need any of that fancy stuff. if it lets me talk to my friends every once in awhile, and sends text messages, it's good in my book. but my phone has one thing that i'm not willing to give up (...yet).

it actually reads kanji for me. most phones these days have japanese-english dictionaries, but in order to use them, you have to actually know how to say the kanji to look it up in the dictionary. it seems on most phones, you can just highlight, copy and paste the kanji from an inbox text into the dictionary, but my phone eliminates that annoying process and lets me highlight text and choose either "reading" or "english meaning".

for this feature alone (really!) i haven't upgraded or swtiched to a cheaper company or been tempted by the new iPhone or other super thin phones that are out these days. nope, me and my transformer looking royal blue and silver 2005 sanyo phone, we're hangin' in there.

the only problem with having my phone for so long: i have over 300 numbers in it. i'd love to say i just have a lot of friends. that's not the case. unfortunately, japanese phones have infrared capabilities and exchanging numbers is easier than using a microwave. in most cases, that's a plus. but when you're an exchange student at a japanese university and head out to your circle's nomikai, you wake up with next day with numbers from people you don't even remember meeting! or, that guy you danced with at the club? yep, his number's in there, but you wouldn't know him if you ran into him in broad daylight. (oops!) it was an ongoing joke when i was here in college. on monday morning in japanese class, "hey jo, how many numbers did you get *this* weekend?" and i laughed and played the game for what it was worth.

a simple cleaning out of the address book would solve this problem, but for a number of reasons, i haven't. instead, i sorted through and gave everyone in my address book a label. "family", "university", "high school", "work", "misc." and the infamous, "who?" group. yep, there are more people in there than i'd like!

but today i was reminded why i don't just delete those people from my address book; i got a text from one of them!! i vaguely (very VAGUELY!!) remember the name, but i can't figure out where we met or who he is! he invited me to a party tomorrow afternoon. it's got an entrance fee that's more than i'd pay for a new pair of jeans, but curiosity's got the best of me, and after talking to him on the phone (i thought maybe i'd be able to place his voice, but it only threw me off even more! though, he asked if i remembered him and i admitted that i couldn't put a face with his name...doh! he laughed and didn't seem too offended either way though...phew.), i've decided to go.

it's at a fancy hotel, there'll be lots of people, yummy food, and prizes like trips to australia, okinawa, hakone, hokkaido, and other things like passes to disneyland, a free night's stay in the hotel, etc. i'll be sure to let you know how it goes. but for now i'm freaking out about that zit on my cheek and, more importantly, what i'm going to wear!!!