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	<title>The Spark in the Dark</title>
	<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog</link>
	<description>adventures and stories</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:45:33 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>The Great April Switch</title>
		<description><![CDATA[April 1st As I mentioned before, the Japanese school system runs on a different schedule than the ones in the US.  They have a trimester system and their school year begins in April rather than September. After graduation and some supplemental classes in the end of March, the students get a short vacation.  On the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/the-great-april-switch/</link>
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		<title>Osaka Weekend</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Osaka Weekend March 20-22 The fabulous excursion rep for the Toyama branch AJET (Association of JETs), Maddy, organized a trip to Osaka for the three day weekend in March. The sumo tournament was being held during that time, so the trip was planned out for us to go and watch the 8th day of matches [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/osaka-weekend/</link>
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		<title>Toyama High School Graduation</title>
		<description><![CDATA[March 4th (trying to catch up on posts) Japanese Graduation Ceremony Nothing can be done properly in Japan without a good ceremony. Opening ceremonies, closing ceremonies, welcoming ceremonies, farewell ceremonies&#8230; The list goes on. Graduation is no different than anything else in the way it is made into a ceremony. Now don&#8217;t get me wrong, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2010/04/toyama-high-school-graduation/</link>
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		<title>Glass Studio</title>
		<description><![CDATA[February 26th In Toyama there is a glass studio about 30 minutes by bus from Toyama Station.  They showcase a lot of local glass artists and there is a lot of beautiful work you can buy at the studio.  They also have an extremely cool touristy type option, you can sign up to make your [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2010/03/glass-studio/</link>
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		<title>Toga Soba Festival</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Toga Soba Festival February 13th &#8220;Soba (そば or 蕎麦?) is a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. It is served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup.&#8221; &#8211; wikipedia Up in the mountains of Toyama is a little town called Toga.  On the weekend of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2010/03/toga-soba-festival/</link>
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		<title>The Amazing Snow</title>
		<description><![CDATA[February 6th My mom got here around 6:45 on Tuesday evening.  As we were walking back to my apartment she was looking around and asked where the snow was.  It had been above freezing for a couple days and the temperature combined with the rain meant that there was no snow on the ground. Being [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2010/03/the-amazing-snow/</link>
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		<title>I&#8217;ve been afk for a bit</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello everyone! Sorry it&#8217;s been so long since my last post. Things have been pretty busy. Ken and I went home for Christmas and stayed through New Years. It was a great vacation. We got to eat all kinds of food that you can&#8217;t get here, or doesn&#8217;t taste quite the same. We also got [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/ive-been-afk-for-a-bit/</link>
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		<title>Photos</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello everyone If you have been following my photos on Picasa, I just uploaded a bunch of albums from the pictures I have been taking with my phone. The albums are sorted by the date the pictures were taken, so make sure you go back through and check out some of the older ones!]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2010/01/photos/</link>
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		<title>To the Hospital</title>
		<description><![CDATA[October 28th So after my mom flew 14 hours on a plane to get here, what&#8217;s the first thing (after some sleep) that we do?  How about go to the hospital?  That sounds fun! It wasn&#8217;t an emergency situation, no one was dying.  But I had been constantly sick since I&#8217;ve come to Japan and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2009/12/to-the-hospital/</link>
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		<title>The Most Awesomest Day</title>
		<description><![CDATA[October 27th Tuesday started like any other.  I woke up, got dressed and went to school.  On Tuesdays I have two classes in the morning and then the rest of the day is free.  When I got to school I found out that today was a Wednesday schedule, since the school was scheduled to have [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://thesparkinthedark.com/blog/index.php/2009/12/the-most-awesomest-day/</link>
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