Sunday I went to the beach with Audrey and her host sister Aya, Audrey's coworker Emma, half of Northern Ireland who knows Emma, Karen, and these two male coworkers she brought from Okayama. I shall say no more about the two of them, except that they persuaded her to ditch us for both lunch and dinner that day... The beach was lots of fun, eventually leading to contests to see who could do the most acrobatic dives...

After the Okayama posse hurried back for dinner and we bid the Irish farewell, Audrey, Aya, and I went back to her homestay to meet up with a friend of theirs so they could change into yukata while I sat around making small talk with her host father, who came in and greeted me with, "So, is this a strip show?" What am I supposed to say, "Yes, I'm watching a strip show with your daughter in it"?