Lodging!

This weekend has been really good as I went 'camping' with Chris and all his friends from Rikkyo university. I use '' marks because it could only be loosely defined as camping since we stayed in a lush log cabin rather than tents.
The place we went to was called Okutama and it's about 2 hours out of Tokyo. Going there felt really bizarre because it seemed like the gray suburbs of Tokyo went on forever then suddenly we came out of the horrible gray mass of buildings into huge mountains that were covered in trees. It was very beautiful.
It made me feel really nostalgic because it reminded me of the village I lived in the first time that I was in Japan in Hyogo-ken. It makes me want to go back and visit all my friends that are there...

Everyone from Chris' uni seem nice and really fun. It was quite nerve-racking at the beginning of the trip as I didn't know anybody and everyone knew a bit about me through Chris. There was no need to worry though as everyone was chatty and wanted to know why on earth I was going out with Chris as he is so rude to them (joking. But seriously!).
The campsite was right by a river where everyone gathered to have barbeque's and drink. There were a few problems with lighting fires at first since nobody had a fire making qualification from scouts but after a heavy dosing of paraffin the fires soon got going. I didn't actually eat much of the food since the choice was either meat or meat. I snuck off to a supermarket to buy my dinner... good job I did or I would have ended up very drunk from lack of sustenance. Actually, I ended up very drunk anyway!
In the morning I got up stupidly early (8.00!!!!!) to go to a local onsen. I was too tired and hungover to even talk but at least I didn't smell of bonfires anymore.
Overall a really good trip.